


discrepancy

by the_forgotten_daydreamer



Series: Voltron: Legendary Defender [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 10 years later, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff and Angst, Future AU, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gay Shiro (Voltron), Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Lance (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Lance (Voltron) Has Self-Esteem Issues, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Langst, Light Angst, M/M, Mentions of Cancer, Nightmares, Stranded, Vomiting, for the explosion yknow, they/them pronouns for Pidge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2020-12-07 15:01:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20977826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_forgotten_daydreamer/pseuds/the_forgotten_daydreamer
Summary: A mission goes wrong and Lance finds himself into a Future Alternate Universe, where Shiro never left for the Kerberos Mission in the first place, thus changing drastically the course of events that happened in the team's lives during the past years.-Langst with a happy ending.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own VLD nor its characters.

It wasn’t supposed to be an easy mission, they all knew that.

Their lives were at stake- more than usual, that is- and the situation was probably the last ideal they’d ever been in.

Trying to make a black hole cease was not an easy task to accomplish, and moving a whole planet- no matter how small- away from it, was an even harder challenge.

But the Uolixians, inhabitants of a petite and rather humid planet, had activated a distress beacon.

And the Paladins, as Defenders of the Universe, couldn’t ignore that.

_ “Legends tell that it is the gateway to a better world, where lost souls and spirits are sent to find the truth by order of our Goddess, Xuia!” _ the leader of these beings had said during the meeting, held shortly after the team’s arrival.

The elongated alien, her skin turquoise and wrinkled, also mentioned that the explorers who had been sent to investigate, had never come back. 

The presence of the “portal” had never been a real problem, until it had started to inexorably suck the planet toward it, some days prior.

_ “Shiro, this is madness!,” _ Pidge had said to him in private, fixing their glasses, _ “we can’t move a black hole nor a planet, that’s a suicide!” _they’d added.

And the man agreed, completely.

_ “Can’t you guys evacuate? After all, you must be about only a billion. I get that leaving your homeplanet would be immensely hard, but we don’t really see any other option here..!” _ he’d reasoned, as the leader just shook her spiked head.

_ “No,” _ she stated, folding her puffy six arms, _ “leaving Oulixia is not contemplated. We’re just asking you to move the portal further, or the planet itself. It's our goddess, and she's probably angry, so the least you can do is try to find out why," _she said, _ “can’t the so-called ‘mighty’ Voltron do that?” _.

Her people seemed to agree.

The Black Paladin clenched his fist and nodded. _ “Alright,” _ he muttered through gritted teeth, _ ”let me speak to the other Paladins for a moment, then we’ll do it”. _

Shiro didn’t want to have his team to do this; the idea of facing death scared him- despite contrary beliefs.

Lance had patted his shoulder reassuringly, _ “it’s okay, Shiro, we’re okay to do this” _he smiled, the rest of the team nodding along, not so convinced.

Truth is, nobody wanted to risk their lives for someone that haughty and rude.

"_It's their 'goddess', none of our business! Plus, are they too primitive to realize that it isn't any kind of superior being that's doing this?"_ Keith had scoffed, quickly shushed by Hunk.

"_We've been in space for months now, and you still don't believe in 'superior beings', Keith?" _Shiro asked, raising an eyebrow, amusedly.

He wanted to lighten the mood, but his attempt failed to even earn a single laugh.

They didn't want to do this... But again, when did they ever get to choose?

-

And so there they were, lost in space- God knows how far from the Castle- with no clue, Lions damaged and, cherry on top, a huge black hole far too close to them.

The team were fighting against the magnificent yet terrifyingly omnipotent force of the nature, grunting and crying unconsciously, fearing for their lives.

The black hole was sucking them inside it- no ship on Earth would have survived to that, but again, Voltron was partially magic, right?- way stronger than the robot’s thrusters.

And they wouldn’t have handled that strain for a long time, Hunk had noted through gasps, panic in his tone evident.

Keith was pushing the control sticks forward, close to breaking them, trying to summon more power and get away from the danger, along with his team.

The Green Paladin was screaming at that point, physical and emotional strain visible on their features as a thick layer of sweat covered their pale face.

“Guys,” Pidge grunted, “I don’t know how long we can last… At this rate-” they stopped, too scared to even say that.

_ We’re all going to die. _

Shiro swore loudly, fighting back the urge to cry, “We can’t give in!,” he yelled, “Allura and Coran are counting on us! And so are the Uolixians!”.

Lance swallowed, anxiety churning his stomach and threatening to send bile up. Truth is, he'd been quite distracted, too focused on the mysterious force that he felt.

That black hole had something appealing, Lance thought, it was totally calling _him_.

_Quiet!_

"W-what?," Keith asked, perplexed, "none of us is talking!"

_Ah, shit, did I say that out loud..? _

Lance swallowed, "Sorry, I was- nevermind".

-

Voltron was about to fall apart, they could tell.

They didn't know how long they stayed there, thrusting forward, trying to free themselves from the invisible grip that was dragging the robot back.

_Paladin, come to me._

Lance blinked heavily, _what!?, _"Did you hear that!? Is it- is it just me or... Or that thing is calling us?".

The others scoffed, concerned and tired.

"Did you hit your head!?" Pidge yelled, voice strained.

“What if,” he pondered out loud, “what if we went in there?”.

He was expecting the backlash, honestly, so when everybody simultaneously started screaming at him, he silently recoiled in his seat, never stopping to thrust.

Still, Lance couldn’t ignore the fact that they had a solid chance to end all of that.

Everyone’s head was dizzy now. Something- _someone-_ was interfering.

_Paladin, come to me._

The Blue Paladin sat up, panting. Was he starting to hallucinate already? Was he that tired?

_Blue Paladin, come to me._

“We must split up,” he prayed, aware that whatever was going on with him was bothering the others too.  
He just wanted them to be okay, he needed to save his friends, his _ familia._

_"_Why?" the Black Paladin asked, quizzical look on his tired face.

Lance swallowed, "We'd uhm- the Lions would be faster on their own".

Shiro loudly hummed, “Are you absolutely sure?”.

“Well, I wouldn't say 'absolutely' but, uhm-”

“No, Lance, you’re not pulling one of your usual stunts today. Just... Don’t, please” Keith hurried, nervous and upset, his thick eyebrows knitted in concern.

Lance scoffed, grinning, _ and he says I am the apprhensive one in our relationship..?, _

“Keith, mi amor, it will be okay, I swear!,” he insisted, “we don’t have time for this now. Please, guys, we must split up, you’ll see!”.

He didn’t want to do this. He hated lying, he hated pretending, but that was his best shot now, and he could think of something else later.

_ If there will ever be a ‘later’..._

Lance was skeptical, but he trusted those creatures. He could feel, somehow, life coming out the black hole.

Kind of like a voice, mysterious and seductive, calling his name, asking the Paladin to _join_ It.

“Okay,” Shiro said, startling him, “team, let’s split up!”.

And so they did.

Lance smiled, satisfied as he noticed that, when every Lion single-handedly thrusted forward, it managed to get further than Voltron did.

“You were right!,” Hunk exclaimed, “buddy, you’re a genius”.

“But-” _ ahh, Pidge, you killjoy! _“we can’t move enough to be out of the black hole’s sunction zone” they noted, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

Lance knew that, but the voice kept yelling at him, and he couldn't ignore it anymore.

The Blue Paladin dry heaved, overwhelmed.

_BLUE PALADIN, COME TO ME._

"Stop, you're hurting me!" he screamed, as his teammates started yelling at him, calling for help, asking the boy to calm down.

But he couldn't. He just-

_BLUE PALADIN, COME TO ME._

Lance yelled, the others frantic.

_"_Lance! Damn it- Lance, what's going on!? Please, respond!!" yelled Keith, panicked, "LANCE!"

The Cuban boy grunted, his head threatening to split open any second.

“I’ll be back, I promise!” he muttered through gritted teeth, and with that, he reversed course, speeding up toward the black hole.

“Lance, wait!,” he heard Keith yell through tears, as Black pined Red down, “Lance, Lance no, I beg you, come back!” the Red Paladin screamed, voice scruffed.

Hunk was screaming inchoerently, as Pidge and Shiro cussed loudly, telling him to stop now.

But it was far too late.

-

They couldn’t help but notice how the black hole had gotten smaller as soon as the Blue Lion had entered it- so small that they were all free to move. But they didn’t.

How could they..?

Lance had just committed suicide to save them all.

Because he loved them?

Because that was the only available solution?

Because he didn’t want anybody to get hurt?

Because he felt expendable?

_ Because he wanted to die..?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, let me know what you think of this with kudos and constuctive criticism in the comments :) thanks, see you soon (weekly updates granted).  
My tumblr's @theforgottendaydreamer, for any questions or prompts that you want me to write, ask me there!


	2. Chapter 2

Lance's eyes flickered open, slowly, as the warm sunlight lit the blue sky, air clean and fresh. He heard birds chirping and bees flying, and yawned lazily.

The boy breathed in, allowing himself to rest a bit more. He felt drained.

Lance could feel humid grass gently caressing his skin where it was bare, as it slightly wet his clothes.

He was sprawled on his back, arms and legs spread open, heavy.

Letting his mind wonder, he hazily cracked his eyelids open, blinking to adjust to the light.

_ Aw, today's such a nice day to be outside… _

As Lance was about to take another short nap, the weird sensation that something was _ wrong _settled in his mind, restlessly bombing him with questions to which he couldn't even answer.

He sat up, dusting the grass off of his jacket, and looked around.

_ Where..? _

Nothing seemed out of place, though.

He could see his family's house and farm, not too far from the small cliff he was resting on, so close that he could also hear his nephew and niece playing and laughing.

Lance spotted a couple of cows lazily chewing their hay.

He smiled, comforted.

The boy laid down again, hands folded under his brunet head, and looked up at the candid clouds, and then slid his deep blue eyes shut again.

_ 'Hey..?' _

Lance scrunched his face, annoyed, 

"Not now, guys, uncle Lance's tired at the moment" he muttered.

_ 'Damn it, are you even alive? I'm calling 911' _

"Yo, chill, being 17 nowadays is tiring," he muttered, "kids these days will never know the struggle!".

_ 'There's a guy passed out in my driveway… No, he's got some kind of costume and helmet on… Ah, okay… Alright, wait'. _

"Wait, what-"

Then, Lance felt it. A strong, tight pinch on his shoulder.

He shot up, eyes wide, desperately gasping for breath.

The boy's vision swam as he looked around- _ this is not the farm, where the fuck am I!?- _ panting.

Lance was vaguely aware of someone patting his back gently, talking to him, but he couldn't hear a single word.

His ears were ringing, the feeling of lightheadedness and nausea washing over him like a cold shower, body shaking with anxiety and fear and dizziness and-

"Oh fuck… moving…! I think... suffocating…? ...what do I… Hyperventilating now..?... Okay!" he heard someone yell in front of him, their hands grabbing his seizing shoulder. 

Lance tossed his head, _ get away get away get-, _still disoriented.

"...buddy? Remove… and helmet..? Did you... drugs? Hey… Breathe".

The man's voice was steady yet veiled with worry, slightly rough but pleasant to listen to. And, Lance noticed, it was... _ familiar _.

He took in shaky breath, lungs still burning, eyes squeezed shut to avoid crying, as he was trying desperately to regain his composure, _ you're a Paladin of Voltron, for fuck's sake!. _

The hands, _ so warm…, _ on his shoulders never moved.

After a couple of minutes at most, Lance slowly blinked, willing the dizzy spell away, tiny pupils glued to his own lap.

"Hey, can you hear me, dude?," the man in from of him asked, "are you okay? The ambulance is on its way".

_ Ambulances in space? _

"Can you understand me? Please, buddy, look at me," the figure pleaded, "did you take drugs? I need to warn the EMTs in case you did, and they wouldn't get mad if you did, alright? Buddy, you with me?".

Lance's head snapped up, swimming once again, and he shakingly attempted to get on his feet, "Where's Blue…" he muttered, woozy.

The hands on his shoulder steadied him, guiding him towards the ground again, "Hey, hey! What are you- Don't freak out, buddy, stay down!" the man urged, "you're hyperventilating again and the ambulance won't be here for some time, so you really need to listen to me, alright? Come on, breathe".

Lance's eyes widened at the realization, _ holy shit…, _as he set his wandering gaze onto the man in front of him.

His pale, flawless skin created a sharp contrast with those dark eyebrows- now furrowed in concern- and hair, purple eyes penetrating and shiny. Still, he looked… _ off _.

"...Keith", he rasped out, mouth agape.

The man stiffened, and removed his hands from the boy's shoulders, not a bit steadier than before.

"How- how do you know my name?".

_ What the- _"What kind of question is that? It's me? Name's Lance?".

The man's concerned expression had started to look more like anger now, and the boy really couldn't picture why.

_ Keith _ wasn't even recognizing him, after those two years spent in space, and those weeks of shameless flirting? 

_ Wow, rude. _

_ Keith _ picked his phone off the asphalt where it was laying, and quickly dialed a number.

"Hi, I'm the one of the kid passed out in the driveway..? ...Yeah. It was a stupid prank this guy pulled… Yes, I'm sure… Sorry… Thanks, good day".

Lance was speechless. 

"Keith, what is going on..?" he asked.

The man seemed to ignore him, dialing another number on the phone, "There's a teenager in my driveway, I've never seen him yet he knows mine and my partner's name and address?... I think he's a minor too…-".

Lance was too tired to deal with this bullshit, _ honestly. _

He grabbed _ Keith's _ phone- _ what kind of model is even this..?- _and yanked it off his hands, ending the call.

"Hey, what the hell!," the man replied, "that's private property and I don't give a damn of how old you are-!". Damn it, he was red in his face. Lance had never seen his boyfriend, _ can we even define ourselves like that already?, _like that.

"Keith, this is not funny" he said, getting up and stretching. Still, Lance noticed that something was definitely wrong there.

_ Keith _ was taller, significantly taller than him, _ since when!?, _and he wasn't wearing anything that Lance had ever seen.

The man stepped forward, and the boy recoiled, "Hey, snap out of it, dude, it's me! And… what are you wearing!?".

_ Clothes that aren't totally terrible? What the quiznak! _

_ Keith _seemed slightly offended at that, but shrugged it off. 

"Remove your helmet, then we can talk, junkie".

Lance hadn't even realized he still had it on, honestly, "Junkie? That's new, Mullet..!" he muttered under his breath, taking the helmet off.

_ Keith _just stared at him, wide eyed.

"Holy shit… What- what the fuck!" he yelled, stepping back.

Lance stood there, hands on his linear hips, helmet tucked under his right armpit, "what?".

_ Keith _ stepped back again, a mixture of horror and curiosity in his feature, "what are you?".

"Uhm, I think you meant 'who', thank you very much, and… Well, I'm Lance, again, Lance McClain, Blue Paladin, the sharpshooter, guy you've been flirting with for some time, and so on. Ring any bell?," he asked sarcastically, "we don't have time for this!".

_ Keith _was unnaturally pale now, his legs trembling and his mouth open, not a sound coming out of it.

"Uh- My man? Hello?".

The boy stepped forward, worried, and his wrist was instantly grabbed by the other one, "You're coming with me, right now" he said, dragging Lance along.

"Where are we?"

"..."

"Did we crash?"

"..."

"Huh, where are you taking me?".

"…"

"To the Lions?"

"...What?"

"Uh, to the Castle, then..?".

_ Keith _shook his corvine head, muttering something under his breath and walking towards the front door.

"Secret hideout? I love it, very- uhm- lovely".

The man chuckled, not in an amused way, more like utterly creeped out, "my God, you really are Lance".

"No duh!- Ouch" he yelled, as he was shoved into the house.

It smelled… nice, _ honey scented candles? Nice, I'd choose that too, _and looked cozy.

"A bit excessive for a hideout, to be fair" he commented, as he looked around.

The parquet floor, hazel and shiny, perfectly matched the two sofas at the centre of the room, off-white and in front of each other, and the wooden furniture- shelves filled with books and plants- gave a very fancy appearance to the house.

Lance noticed that it was an open space living room, as he could vaguely spot the kitchen table, not too far, and a small corridor. Furthermore, there were stairs, _ wow, upper floor, better visibility… Nice!. _

"So, Keith, mind telling me what's going on? I'm a bit freaked out" he asked, turning around to find _ Keith _, sitting on one of the couches, fingers folded under his chin as his elbows rested on his knees.

"Sit" he said, tone stern.

He obliged, quizzical look on his tired face.

"Look, man, I'm exhausted, I don't know where I am, I am starving to death and you're creeping me out more than usual!," Lance admitted, exhaling, "please, you need to tell me what's going on!".

"I should be the one asking you that!," _ Keith _yelled, upset, "what have you done this time? Why are you so- so small? Lance, did you break into the Garrison's labs again!?".

The boy's head was spinning again, and he gripped the armrest, "...What? The Garrison? We- Oh shit, are we on Earth!?".

_ Keith _pinched the bridge of his nose, "Yes, yes, where else are we supposed to be? Fuck, Lance, why can't you stay out of trouble?" he sighed, anger in his tone subsiding, as he got up and kneeled in front of Lance.

"What are-"

"Shut up, idiot," the man replied, taking Lance's head into his _ big _hands and tilting it delicately, "hey, did you hit your head? Did they give you something?".

The Cuban boy was officially confused now.

"What's the last thing you remember?" _ Keith _asked, still looking at his head.

"Uh… I don't know… We were on some mission and after that, it's a blur, sorry. But I don't have a concussion- stop it!".

The man scrunched his eyebrows together, "You sure?".

"Oh for fuck's sake- yes! Damn, you're an annoying person for a 17 year-old boy!" Lance sighed, freeing himself from the grip.

_ Keith _ froze.

"What..," he swallowed loudly, "what did you just say?"

"Oh, don't act so surprised, Mullet, you know you're annoying" the boy replied, rolling his eyes.

"Not- not that…". _Keith_ paused, thin eyes glued to the floor.

"Lance," he started, "what year is this?".

"What the-?"

"Just answer me. What year is this..?" 

"Oh, it was 3017 when we left Earth, and that was, like, a couple of deca-phoebs ago, give or take some vargas, so 3019 I suppose?," Lance reasoned, counting on his fingers, "why are you asking me this? Again, I don't have a conc- Keith, are you okay?" he asked, panicked, as Keith was staring at him, expression blank and tears at the corner of his purple eyes.

"Keith, talk to me man, you're scaring the living shit out of me today! That's it, I'm calling the team!" Lance said, putting his helmet back on, "Allura? Coran? Pidge? Hunk? Shiro?-" _ ...Shiro!? " _-Anyone? Do you copy? Guys, please, Keith is not doing good". 

Static. "Oh, come on!".

_ Keith _shook his head softly, taking it into his head, "This can't be real...", and Lance kept fiddling with the comm-links.

_ Shiro. _ _He just called Shiro._

"Lance," he spoke softly, yet startling Lance, "stop, it's okay, I'm fine" he said, smiling imperceptibly.

"...Y-you sure? Then can you tell me where we are?".

_ Keith _'s smile widened slightly, "I think… Alright, this may sound crazy but I think you may be stuck in an Alternate Universe. I'm not sure but… Oh man, after all these years of researches Lance's gonna be so happy…".

"Creepy," Lance replied, "calling me as if I were not here is very creepy- wait. Did…".

He felt like the air in him had been knocked out at once.

"Did you say 'Alternate Universe' or…?".

_ Keith _nodded.

And with that, it all rushed back to him in a moment, like a flash.

The Uolixians, the black hole, the mysterious voice… All of it.

Lance felt like heaving, and he sunk further in the sofa, skin clammy and plastered to the uniform.

The man in front of him seemed worried, "Calm down-".

"D-don't," Lance said, upset and short on breath, holding his shaking hand up, "don't say a-anything".

_ Great, I'm freaking out again… Shit. _

"I have to, so let me explain," he started, "but first, I need you to take deep breaths for me, alright?".

_ Keith _sat next to Lance, rubbing his back in soothing circles- the armor didn't make it easy- "in and out, alright?".

It took some minutes. But it worked.

Lance was honestly surprised that it did.

"W-where did you learn that..?" he croaked out.

"I'll tell you if you let me explain", _ Keith _replied, smiling softly.

Lance nodded, still panting, 

"Okay…".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll publish Chapter 3 on Thursday night.  
Love you!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UHHH EARLY UPDATE, SURPRISE!  
-  
When a name is signaled in cursive (not in dialogues) it means that the character I'm talking about is from the AU.  
Also, this is set during s2!

_ Keith  _ handed Lance a small silver tray, a cup of warm tea and some fresh chocolate-chip biscuits on it.

“Thanks..,” the boy muttered, still shaken, “you didn’t have to”.

“You said you were hungry, right?,” the Japanese man replied, a soft smile on his face, as he sat back on the couch in front of Lance, “so, back to what I was saying… You told me it’s 3019 where you come from”.

Lance nodded, silent. 

“I see… Here it’s almost 3031, for only a couple of months, actually,” he continued, fiddling with the cup he had in his hands, "so our worlds are twelve years apart, more or less. But I'm sure that's not the only difference".

At that, the Cuban boy grinned slightly, “Are we back to ‘months’ now?”.

Much to his confusion, _ Keith  _ raised an eyebrow, “Huh, what do you mean..?”

“I mean, ‘months’, ‘years’ and all, we haven’t used those in a while!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man replied, perplexed, “we’ve always called those in that way, like, since the 5th century...”.

Lance seemed more confused than _ Keith _ , but soon a sparkle of understanding flashed in his eyes, and he shrugged, lowering his gaze, “Oh, right, that's… That's actually Altean”.

“...Altean?,” the man asked, “I’ve never heard of that, I’m sorry”.

Lance chuckled, hands trembling around the cup, “Not your fault”.

He looked upset, and  _ Keith  _ took pity in him, to be honest.

_ Poor kid, he must be so confused... _

“Hey,”  _ Keith _ said softly, “I’m just as confused as you are, buddy, and I want to help. You just need to tell me exactly what happened in the past twelve years, so that we can find a way to send you back home” he finished, smile wide and beautiful, showing the boy a notepad.

The Cuban scoffed.

_ Hah, 'home'. _

He loved space, he loved his friends, he loved  _ his  _ Keith, but Lance couldn't define the Castle as his 'home'. Not yet, anyway.

“Okay,” Lance said, shakingly breathing in, “so, twelve years ago, I was moved to Fighter Class in the Garrison, with Hunk as engineer and Pidge as tech and com supervisor-”

“There’s the first difference,”  _ Keith  _ muttered, taking notes.

“Already!? What is it?” the boy asked, sighing over-dramatically.

The man in front of him rolled his eyes,  _ he's just like him,  _ “I'm talking about Fighter Class. This dimension's Lance studied to become a Cargo Pilot, though with the same crew for the first few months, and ended up becoming a renowned astrophysicist..,” he stated nonchalantly, "took him a while to achieve his goal, but he got there!".

Lance was at a loss of words, mouth dry as he sipped some tea, loudly.

“I’m… I’m not that smart, how is that possible? The guy must be a genius..!” he wondered out loud, gaze low.

“You are too,”  _ Keith  _ replied, tone steady, “you’ve always been intelligent, Lance, more than you’ve ever known… As I said, it took my Lance a while to overcome the self-confidence issues, and he still has them, but he’s getting better by the day” he said, smiling softly, "and you can do it too, I'm sure of it".

Lance, again, didn’t respond. 

“What are you wondering?”  _ Keith  _ asked, seeing the confusion on the boy’s face.

“Nothing...” he answered, voice low.

“Oookay,” the man replied, not too convinced, “so, why were you moved to Fighter Class?”.

The Cuban stopped for an instant to think, “Let’s see… I managed to get into the other Class because Keith dropped out. It wasn’t for my own merits… Like, I should be thankful that you- I mean, Keith had disciplinary issues or whatever, as far as the you from my dimension said,”-  _ Keith  _ hummed loudly,  _ sounds like me- _ “also, he was going crazy looking for Shiro, so I don’t even think Keith cared about school that much” he noted, scoffing.

The Japanese man paled, “Shiro..?”.

“Yeah, you know, Kerberos and- wait,” Lance’s eyes widened, “you don’t know about that...”.

_ Keith  _ shook his head weakly.

“Oh. Basically,” Lance cleared his throat, unsure on how to proceed, “where I come from, Shiro left for a mission with Pidge’s dad and brother, in space… The crew members were all believed to be dead, but Keith never gave up and neither did Pidge. So, when Shiro crashed on Earth again, he rescued him from the Garrison and- oh my God, are you okay?”. 

The sight before his eyes was mesmerizing yet terrifyingly odd.

_ Keith _ was crying, silently, not even whimpering. 

His deep purple eyes shone with an unnatural melancholy, as hot tear drops slipped through his long eyelashes.

The man just sat there, hands folded on his lap, trembling, a bitter grin on his pale face.

“Keith? My man? What is it..?,” Lance asked worriedly, setting the teacup on the coffee table and approaching him, “hey, are you alright?”.

“I’m- I’m sorry, it’s just that… God, I...”  _ Keith _ ’s voice trembled, “I miss Shiro so much”.

Lance blinked in confusion, and then inhaled, shocked, “He’s..?”.

“Dead, yeah,” the man replied, voice scruffy, drying his tears, “it was a long time ago, but it still hurts, you know? The universe isn’t fair,” he chuckled bitterly, “I’m just happy he got to enjoy his life for those thirty years”.

Lance swallowed, "Keith, I am so sorry..,” he said, patting the man’s shoulders.

“It’s- it’s fine, don’t worry” the man stuttered.

“Can I… Can I ask you how he died..?”.

He hated himself for asking this, but he  _ had _ to know. 

The Japanese man nodded weakly, “Cancer… He’d had it since he was twenty-two years old, in 3014, and it led him to his deathbed less than eight years later,”  _ Keith  _ stopped, breathing in, “he doesn’t have it where you’re from?”.

The Cuban boy shook his head briefly, “Not that I know of… He’s healthy, strong and rather happy, even if PTSD is clearly bothering him but-”

“Wait, PTSD..?”

“Yes. My Shiro was captured during the Kerberos Mission, and so was Pidge’s family, and they kept him captive for a year or so… He was their ‘champion’, that means he was the best fighter in the arena, forced to slaughter every opponent in order to be kept alive, used to entertain the Generals..,” Lance cleared his throat, willing his worries to leave his face, “but, you know, we’re trying to help, he’s sort of okay now!” he smiled, eyes betraying his false excitement, “Still, I’m very sorry for your loss”.

_ Keith _ nodded apologetically and dried his face, “so, moving on, we now know that Shiro left for a mission, the other Keith left the Garrison because I-  _ he _ wanted to find him. Thanks to the dropout, you became a Fighter Pilot, with Pidge and Hunk in your crew, then Shiro came back-”

“With a super cool robotic arm!” Lance added, raising his index like a little child in school.

“...Right, with a robotic arm, and then..? What happened?”

“We found the first Lion of Voltron, well, modestly, I did, but, you know, not relevant..,” Lance smirked, “although I have to admit, if it weren’t for me-”

“Wait, wait, Vul- Vultren? Lions? What?”

“No, no no no, it’s ‘Voltron’! I say ‘Vol’, you say..?” Lance tried, raising an eyebrow.

_ Please, don't let me down again- _

“Vol...tron?” the man muttered, raising an eyebrow, lips slightly parted.

_ Well, fuck it, I guess. _

“You are dumb in the future too!,” the boy exhaled jokingly, hands in his hair.

_ Keith  _ rolled his eyes, “Says who!”.

Lance was about to argue, but the man raised his hand.

“No, nevermind, just explain what that Voltron thing is”  _ Keith _ yelled, sighing.

“Basically, while  _ I _ was  _ heroically _ rescuing Shiro from the Garrison’s quarantine zone, with Hunk and Pidge with me, you bursted in- taking all the credit- and we fled all together," Lance stopped a second to think, "then you brought us to your place- very messy, if I may say so- and after putting all the pieces together, we found the Blue Lion,  _ my  _ Blue Lion, as it chose  _ me _ to pilot it… Her, it’s a ‘she’, actually” he finished, nodding.

_ Keith  _ wrote everything down, features scrunched up in confusion, “That doesn’t even seem possible, I would’ve never taken you to my place back then..,” he muttered under his breath amusedly, clearing his throat later, “a-and then?”.

“Then I flew the Lion in outer space, we entered a wormhole and found ourselves on a small planet, Arus- that’s the name- where a giant castle stood. We went inside, found Allura and Coran and then-” Lance’s eyes widened, “wait, oh my God, you don’t know about those two, do you!?”.

_ Keith  _ shook his head, quizzical look in his purple eyes.

“Quiznak..,” the Cuban murmured, amazed, “they are the only two Alteans left in the Universe. Princess Allura is super smart and a very fancy girl,” he said, wiggling his thin eyebrows, “and she pilots the Castle of Lions, a huge spaceship that kept her and Coran alive for ten thousand years-”

“Ten thousand!?”  _ Keith  _ whispered, bewildered.

Lance nodded, “Yeah! Alright, so Coran's a very mustache-ish and brilliant man, and he's a tech and engineering expert, kind of like a fusion between Hunk and Pidge,” he added, smiling, “I call him ‘Space Uncle’, ‘cause he kind of is” he added, a soft smile on his face.

“Are they… Aliens?”  _ Keith  _ asked, a mix of worry and curiosity on his face.

“No duh, yes they are! Have you not been listening?,” Lance sighed, “by the way, after that, you threatened to beat up a creature the size of a peanut and embarrassed yourself in front of everybody but-”.

The man blushed slightly, “Huh, how is that relevant to the story?”

“Ubh ubh ubh!, you can’t interrupt a tale like that,” the boy sneered, “anyway, as I was saying, you, Hunk, Pidge and Shiro found your Lions and, after a fight with the Galra, we formed Voltron, a giant robotic beast that can do really cool stuff”

“Wait, you fought the… Who?”

“Galra, another alien species, thirsty for blood and war. One of the bad guys also blew the Castle up, and scrambled my organs as if they were eggs-” Lance chuckled, not really amused.

“Oh shit, you exploded!?” the man asked, gasping.

“W-well, not ‘exploded’, more like… Blown up a little and got seriously injured...” he laughed, false amusement veiling his anxiety.

_ Why did I bring this up..? _

“...How did you even survive?”  _ Keith  _ asked, incredulous, “under normal circumstances you’d be-”

“Dead, I know,” Lance shrugged, concern building in his chest and bile threatening to rise up, “but t-the Castle is equipped with healing pods, so I was… I was fine after some time in there”.

“Fascinating,” the Japanese man muttered, writing everything down, and then meeting Lance’s upset gaze “n-not the fact that you almost died, the pods, I mean...”.

The boy swallowed,  _ not now, please, not now..,  _ “Sure, man, don’t worry..,” Lance sighed, as sweat recovered his forehead and gloved hands, “hey, uhm, is- is there a bathroom I can use?”.

“Yeah, go in that corridor, then last door on your right,” the man replied, eyeing him suspiciously, “you okay?”.

Lance swallowed, “Just need to take a leak”, and left.

-

He gripped the sides of the sink for dear life, water drops falling from his bangs on his face. Lance gingerly inhaled, only to cough loudly, groaning as he shut his eyes close, willing to ground himself.

_ It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay... _

He slowly opened his dazed eyes once again, and looked at his reflection in the round-shaped mirror: his usual caramel skin tone was looking pale and unhealthy, shoulders trembling and tears at the corner of his eyes. 

_ Idiot, you know what happens when you talk about that... _

Flash of purple and red blinded him, taking him back to the day he almost died. 

Sendak's sneer hunted his nightmares,  _ I'm bait I'm bait I'm bait I'm-,  _ and didn't even allow him to patrol on his own anymore.

He always managed to find an excuse just to be with someone close, as an anchor that kept him down to reality when his brain threatened to yank him away.

_ I’m safe, I’m alive, it’s okay…  _

Lance could smell the scent of burnt skin.

He could taste the copper blood clogging his airways.

He could see and smell his own blood pooling below his wounded head, vomit burning his esophagus feeling like it was melting. 

_ ‘We need that crystal now, or he’s not gonna make it!’ _

_ ‘He’s bleeding internally, I don’t think he will last long enough...’ _

_ ‘Guys- he stopped breathing!’. _

_ 'Come on Lance, don't do this to us!' _

He’d almost died.

_ Hostia puta… Me estoy muriendo…. _

He remembers thinking about his family,  _ I’ll never see them again!,  _ as tears stained his face, stained with dried blood and gunpowder.

Lance gagged, saliva splotching into the white sink.

_ It’s over now, it’s over, estoy bien. _

His chest heaved, sending him to the floor with a faint thud, knees hitting hard on the cold tiles, a soft whimper escaping his pursed lips.

It had hurt. 

God, it had hurt so much.

He swore to his friends that he didn’t even remember that much, but he did.

He remembered all of it. 

The explosion,  _ so much pain _ , the walk- slumped motionless over Shiro’s broad shoulders,  _ stop, please, it hurts..,  _ Sendak’s arrival,  _ help, _ him getting thrown on the floor, _ Dios make it stop! _ , the hit he scored, the bonding moment too. 

_ And now I’ll never see them again- _

He remembered everything. Clear as the day.

Lance didn’t acknowledge the bathroom’s door opening with a soft squeak,  _ Keith _ ’s delicate gaze upon him.

“Lance-” he muttered, “hey, what’s going on?”. 

The man didn’t seem agitated, just worried. 

The Cuban boy struggled to catch his breath, eyes wide and body trembling restlessly,

“It h-hurts!”

“What hurts?,”  _ Keith  _ asked, crouching next to him, checking for visible injuries, “can I touch you?”.

Lance shook his head, quickly.

_ Haxus had grabbed his collar, pulling him off the cement bench Shiro had placed him and letting him fall on the freezing floor. _

_ 'Stand down, or your friend won't make it!' _

A loud yet soft sigh brought him back to the present, or the future, depending on how one would judge this whole situation.

“Alright,” the man replied, sitting in front of him, “breathe for me, nice and slow? Please?” he murmured, tone soft.

Lance was actually surprised and pleased. 

_ His  _ Keith had a totally different approach when it came to him panicking: he’d always bring him up to his feet and drag the boy to his room, forcefully, while assuring him that he could breathe alright.

_ 'Keith, I c-can't-' _

_ 'It's plenty of oxygen in here, just focus on doing that and don't talk'. _

Sure, not that it wasn’t true, but Lance truly preferred a more delicate approach.

He didn’t even notice that his breathing had started to stabilize, his body now shaking significantly less, eyes still glued to the floor below him.

“You’re doing great,”  _ Keith  _ soothed.

After a moment, the man cleared his throat, “I’m so sorry I made you talk about that. I didn’t realize that the topic made you feel extremely uncomfortable, I’m sorry, that was very stupid of me" he apologized, sincerely.

Lance nodded, swallowing loudly, “‘s okay...”.

The man patted him gently on his knees, careful not to startle the boy.

"It's… T-the second time you do that…" Lance noted, "how..?".

_ Keith _ smiled, "I've had someone to practice with, as bad as it may sound," he smiled, “I’ll be back soon”. That said, he got up- adjusting the bathroom rug with his foot- and left.

Lance felt pathetic. Pathetic and useless.

The boy got on his feet, leaning against the sink again, and made his way toward the door, hearing  _ Keith  _ talking to someone.

“Can… back home... please, L… need...”.

_ who’s he talking to?. _

Just as he reached the living room,  _ Keith _ ended the call on his phone, and looked over, “Are you sure you should be walking?” the man asked, concerned.

The two set back on the couches, silent, and the boy stared at his feet and occasionally glancing up.

Outside, the sunlight was quickly fading, being replaced by the thin dusk fog, black and orange shading the sky.

_ I've been gone for hours… I wonder if the others are worried about me... _

Lance quickly eyed the phone, not unnoticed by the purple eyes that were scanning him.

“I was talking to Lance, my Lance, I mean..,” the Japanese man stated as soon as the Cuban opened his mouth, “he’ll be here shortly… I haven’t told him about you, yet, so I know for sure he’s going to freak out… Just, let me talk first, alright?”.

“You two… Huh, still talk? Even without the… The whole Voltron thing?” he asked, surprised.

_ Keith  _ smiled softly, “Yeah, of course we do. Fate has its own ways, apparently,” he grinned, “you really didn’t look around yourself too much, huh?”.

Lance gave him a quizzical look, “what do you m-”.

And just then, the doorbell rang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) now, after the finale, we know that Shiro had cancer, or an illness with similar symptoms, but since this is set in s2, the team doesn’t know yet, except for Keith, who hasn’t told anybody, just like in the show. Same goes for the other Alteans, since the colony is still unknown.  
2) next chapter will feature all of our beloved team, except for the Alteans, because they are not known to earthlings (yet..?)
> 
> That’s it for now, thank you for reading and see you next week :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, when a name is signaled in cursive (not in dialogues) it means that they’re from the AU.

“Stay there, please!” _ Keith _said, looking at Lance who was still on the couch, facing away from the door.

The boy simply nodded.

_ Keith _ opened the door, and a very distraught _ Lance _ rushed in, making his younger-self gasp quietly as the eldest dropped the backpack he had on.

Lance noticed how weirdly different the man was: taller, for sure, but also sturdier, muscles visible even with the shirt on. His jaw looked more square, clenched in apprehension. But what the boy noticed immediately were the eyes: the deep blue popped out incredibly brightly on the tan skin, and also showed clearly the heavy eyebags above the man’s delicate cheeks.

“What’s going on? Are you alright? Are you hurt?” _ Lance _ asked frantically, hands on the other man’s shoulders.

“I’m okay,” _ Keith _reassured, smiling soflty, “listen, I need to tell you something, but you have to promise to remain absolutely calm”.

_ Lance _seemed to relax a bit, not completely, as he tilted his head slightly, ”What’s going on?”.

_ Keith _smiled, scratching his neck, “Do you remember about all of those researches on the discrepancies between dimensions and all..?”

The man eyed him confusedly, “Yes, of course, why?”.

“Well, I really don’t know how to put this, but I think I may have found a… Proof” he said, smiling slighlty.

“Wh- Are you serious?,” _ Lance _asked, eyes wide, and jumping like a kid as the other man nodded, “how!? No, no, don’t tell me, show it to me!,” he exclaimed, taking the backpack up and removing a thick manual from it, “Keith, please!” he yelled excitedly, fiddling with a pencil in his free hand.

_ Keith _ took his wrist delicately, _ wow, these two are… intimate!, _and led the man to the couch.

As soon as their eyes met, both of the Cubans- Lances?- gasped loudly.

“...Puta mierda santa!” they both yelled, as _ Keith _sighed loudly. 

The Paladin smiled, confused, waving his hand timidly, “Uhm- hi, I’m Lance-”

“Keith, Keith what the fuck!,” the older one screamed, dropping everything and putting his hands in his messy hair, “what the fuck does this mean, holy crap,” he yelled- and Lance couldn’t decipher if that in his tone was anger or happiness or confusion or- “he’s- holy shit- he’s me!? Young me!? What- oh man I n-need to sit down,” he screamed, pacing back and forth and not listening to his own advice, “No puedo creerlo, dónde- where did you find him, Keith? How!?”

“You promised you’d stayed calm...” _ Keith _sighed, “he’s-”.

Before he could say anything, the man ran off and came back a second later with the backpack, fiddling with his content and taking out a small device with a needle attached to that.

“No no no wh- ouch!” Lance screamed as the other one pinched him in the tigh with that, without a warning, retrieving a single drop of blood, “¿Hey, qué demonios-?”.

“Amazing! Keith, come here,” _ Lance _ said, ignoring Lance’s complaints and practically shoving the device in _ Keith _’s face, “look, look!”.

The Japanese smirked, shaking his head, “You know I don’t understand any of that...” he complained, rolling his eyes but with a soft gaze in them, and the Cuban nodded quickly, “Yeah, right, sorry, it’s- look- it’s my same DNA! He really is me!” the man yelled in excitement, hugging _ Keith _, “where did you find him?” he asked, looking over Lance, “no, wait, I want him to tell me!”.

He fiddled with the backpack again and took out a recording device, putting it in front of Lance, “Tell me everything!,” he said, eyes shining, as he took out a notebook and the same pencil as before, “don’t leave any detail out”.

As Lance told his story, his other version grew more and more amazed, legs bouncing as he quickly scribbled down on the notebook, head nodding authomatically. 

On the other hand, the teen grew paler every single time his older version pointed of the discrepancies between that reality and his.

_ Shiro _had refused to leave for Kerberos, due to his condition.

_ Keith _had never dropped out.

_ Matthew _ and _ Samuel Holt _ had never been found, still lost in space and believed to be dead, alongside another unnamed pilot that had left with them.

_ Pidge _was still believed to be a boy, apparently, since ‘he’ had infiltrated the Garrison but never managed to leave for space.

_ Lance _had never found the Blue Lion, but he had also never lost his family, who visited him regularly.

_ Hunk _had left the crew immediatelly after the diploma, and disappeared without a word.

_ Allura _ and _ Coran _were probably still asleep in the pods. Or dead.

Lance’s frantic thoughts were interrupted by the astrophysicist’s joyful yells,

“This is absolutely revolutionary, how one single event changed the course of an entire universe,” he exlaimed exlaimed, “you, amigo, are the first real _ uchronia _proof ever!”.

“Ookr- what?”

“Uchronia, alternate history” _ Keith _explained.

Lance’s face screw up in confusion, heart beating faster by the second,

“So, this is true? I’m stuck in an alternate universe?”.

The two adults looked at each other, arms crossed and eyebrows knitted in sypmathy.

_ Lance _crouched down his younger self- still sitting on the couch- and put his hand on the boy’s knee, “not ‘stuck’, we’ll get you back, I promise” he smiled.

“How, though? Do you even know how?” Lance asked, raising his voice and making the adult flinch a bit.

_ Keith _stepped forward, “Lance, don’t panic, we’ll find a way, and you’ll be home soon…”, his tone soothing and calm.

“I’m-” he cursed under his breath, “I’m not panicking, I’m just stating the truth!” he murmured, voice strangled. 

The Japanese left, coming back an instant later with a glass of water, and giving it to the distraught boy, “It’s going to be okay, trust us”.

_ Keith _didn’t know that for sure, but he couldn’t leave Lance in that state, anxious and terrified, scared and lonely, “we’ll get you back to your family”.

In the mean time, _ Lance _had started fiddling with his phone, determination shining bright in his eyes.

“What are you thinking?” the Japanese asked.

“I’m contacting the others, we’re going to the Garrison, now” he simply replied, going into another room.

“...What’s the matter with him?,” Lance asked, eyeing _ Keith _confusedly, “also, why are you letting him wander around your house? I mean, I’d be glad if my Keith would allow me, but-”

“It’s not ‘my’ house, Lance,” the man replied, arms still crossed, “this is actually Lance’s place too”.

The Cuban had trouble understanding, so he let his eyes wonder.

On the shelves near the couches, some white, fine frames stood, holograms flashing inside. He quickly approached the objects, curious, only to stop dead on his tracks as he realized what those pictures were.

In one of them, _ Keith _ and _ Lance _were standing together in profile, hand in hand, as they looked at each other soflty and dreamely. The men were dressed in elegant suits, a beautiful lake reflecting the sunset light in the blurry background.

On the furth finger of the left hand, they both had a fine gold loop, shining brightly.

“Holy shit..,” Lance muttered, stepping back, “you-”

“Yes,” _ Keith _said behind him, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “uhm, surprise..?”.

The teen was speechless, eyes darting from one picture to another: one had them together in a restaurant, the other one at graduation day, then a concert of a festival- Lance couldn’t tell- and many more.

“H-how long have you guys been...” he couldn’ bring himself to say that word.

_ Married. _

Seemed crazy, and scary too.

“We’ve been together since our last year at the Garrison, and we got married five years later, so that’d be six years ago, almost seven”.

Lance’s heart clutched, _ so Shiro didn’t get to attend the wedding.., _“How was it?”.

_ Keith _tilted his head slightly, “How was what?”

“Everything… The dating, the fact of always having me around…” the Cuban muttered, gaze low.

The man smiled gently, “Lance, look at me,” he said, “you are amazing in both realities, and you should never doubt it. These years with him have been the best of my life, and I am sure that you are a wonderful person just like him” he finished, eyes shining with joy.

“My Keith sort of hates me-” _ Lance _started, “I mean, we’ve been dating for some weeks, nothing serious, because of the war and all. But I think this relationship will be short lived, I’m too much of a mess for him” he admitted, sighing, “I’m running out of people to flirt with” Lance snickered, sarcastic.

_ Keith _exhaled, amused, “You two make me shudder when you say creepy stuff like that!”.

Just then, _ Lance _came back: he was wearing a honorary member Garrison suit- a worldwide know astrophysicts deserved one, right?- gray, orange with twinges of white on it.

He handed Lance a pair of gray sweatpants, a blue shirt, a hoodie and a pair of dark sunglasses.

“Thanks..?” the teen replied.

“Put those on,” the older Cuban instructed, hadning him an empty backpack, “and hide your armour in here. Go change, I’ll find you some shoes in the mean time. Size, mh, 11?”

Lance nodded.

“Alright, we’re leaving in five” _ Lance _replied, a determined smirk on his face, “we’ll take you home soon”.

-

The ride was _not_ silent.

_Lance, _in the front seat, kept muttering under his breath, flipping through the pages of the manuals and notebooks he’s brought with him, occasionally showing and explaining the content of those to the teen, who just nodded confusedly and recoiled further in the backseat.

He was slightly creeped out by the whole situation, honestly.

The Japanese man drove as fast as he could- not breaking the rules- and occasionally asked his husband to lower his voice, high-pitched due to excitement, and turning him to leave Lance alone and to face forward.

“So, what’s the plan?” _ Keith _asked.

“Pidge, Hunk and Adam will meet us at the Garrison. Thankfully, they’re all in the state,” the Cuban man replied, “I haven’t seen Hunk in a while, and I don’t know if he still remembers how to do engereering, but I guess we’ll see”.

“Wait, why wouldn’t he rememeber? And who the heck is Adam!?” Lance asked, leaning forward.

“He was Shiro’s boyfriend,” _ Keith _replied, “isn’t your Shiro with him too?”.

Lance shook his head, as he didn’t know much, scratch that, he didn’t know anything about Shiro’s life before Kerberos.

“Oh, okay,” the Japanese replied, “and, about Hunk, well-”

“He wasn’t happy with this life, so he left. I think he’s a chef or something like that”. _Lance _sounded annoyed.

“And you didn’t stop him? You just- let him go without trying to persuade him? Or at least, talked to him while he was away? You guys have phones, right!?” Lance screamed, furious.

“...Hunk’s your best friend, isn’t he?” _ Keith _inquired, sighing.

“The first and best friend I have ever had,” he answered, “the friend who believed in me even when I didn’t…” Lance muttered.

No, he wasn’t going to cry in front of- well- himself. No way.

“I guess that in this reality, things went differently” the older Cuban noted, not raising his eyes from the manual, “we’ve been good friends, but it’s over now”.

After that, nobody spoke again.

-

A hour later at most, they all arrived at the Garrison. 

Lance hadn’t noticed how far from everybody the couple lived, but thought that even his Keith would’ve picked a similar location. 

_ My Keith… _

The choice of words made him shudder. He wasn’t ready to think of that, yet. He was 17 years old, a literal child. 

A child who was fighting actively an intergalactic war. 

A child who had almost died.

Lance shivered again. He was no child.

“Hey,” _ Keith _called, startling him, “so,we can’t exactly tell strangers about you coming from an Alternate universe. If anyone asks, you’re Juan, Lance’s nephew”.

Lance snickered, “Wow, ‘Juan’? Seriously?,” raising an eyebrow and making _ Keith _blush slightly, “I’ll go with Leonardo, thanks” he scoffed.

-

After _ Lance _greeted some Officers and ex-colleagues, happily signing autographs to students who asked him to, and introducting everybody to his nephew Juan- Lance mentally hit his head against the wall- the three headed off to the rendez-vous point.

As the doors of the private room slid open, Lance gasped.

_ Pidge _stood there, labcoat and blue-tinted glasses on; their hands were resting inside the wide pockets. Their expression was unreadable, something between annoyance and curiosity.

_ Hunk, _on the other hand, was slightly thinner than Lance remembered, but not too taller. A stubble covered his chin, eyebrows furrowed.

He was wearing a pair of black trousers and a striped shirt, white and yellow. The headband was still there, _ thank God. _

Lastly, an unknown figure- _ Adam, _ Lance assumed- leaned against the wall. He was wearing the same uniform as _ Lance, _and their skin tones were similar too, the man’s hair lighter than Lance’s.

He smiled, stepping forward, “Hey guys”.

_ Keith _ and _ Lance _smiled too.

“Hi, Adam, Pidge,” _ Lance _paused, “Hunk”.

“Why did you call us all here?” Pidge asked, crossing their arms, “is everything okay? And... Who’s the kid?”.

“Well, it’s a bit hard to explain,” _ Keith _muttered, looking at Lance, “would you..?”.

The teen nodded, clearing his throat, and slowly removing the sunglasses, revealing his deep blue, unmistakable eyes.

“Holy shit,” _ Hunk _whispered, bewildered, “what… Did you fucking clone yourself?” he asked angrily.

“No, no!,” Lance spoke up, “I’m not a clone, I’m Lance, the real one. Well, one of the real ones, I guess. I’m… I’m from an Alternate Reality, actually,” he said, shrugging and raising his hands a bit, “and I need your help to get back home”.

_ Adam _blinked and took off his glassed, blowing on air on them and cleaning the lenses with his shirt, “Seriously!?”.

_ Pidge _shook their head, baffled, appproaching the teen, “Come to my lab-”

“Hey, hey!,” _ Keith _stepped forward, “Pidge, he’s not a guinea pig, he needs help”

“Furthermore it’s my discovery, not yours...” _ Lance _noted, murmuring.

“I know, I just want to study him, not the whole discrepancy thing!”.

Lance, for some unknown reason, was on the verge of tears.

He hadn’t realized how much he missed his friends, and he’d only been gone for a day at most.

He choked on a sob, unnoticed.

“Why did you need me too? You know I’ve left the life behind” _ Hunk _ said, eyeing _ Lance _.

“I don’t need you, he does” the older Cuban said, nodding to the boy.

Lance quickly regained his composure at that, and started telling his story rapidly.

-

“So, we’re a team of intergalactic warriors who fly around in giant robots?” _ Hunk _asked, skeptycal.

“And Mr Shirogane is our leader?” _ Pidge _muttered, confused.

Lance nodded, “Yes, to both of the questions”.

“I’m… I’m sorry but I need to ask. Is Shiro okay?” _ Adam _asked.

Lance nodded again, “He’s alive and pretty healthy too,” he said, “I’m- I’m sorry I don’t have anything to say about the Adam of my reality, I’ve never met nor heard of him… I’m sorry”.

The man smiled gently, shaking his head, “All that matters to me is that Takashi is fine,” he admitted, “maybe we’re not in good terms in your reality, but… As long as I know that in some reality he’s still alive, I’m happy too”.

Lance smiled, comforted.

“So, any other ideas on how to get him back?” _ Lance _asked, “Because I might have one, but I can’t do that alone”.

_ Pidge _nodded, raising a fist, “Count me in!”.

“Me too” _ Adam _said.

They all looked at _ Hunk _, who’d stayed mostly silent, seeming not so invested in the story.

“Hunk, please...” _ Keith _murmured. His heart ached at the thought that his husband’s once best friend hated him now.

He had reasons, probably, but _ Lance _had always been reluctant when it came to talking about that issue.

Lance’s heart, however, ached worse. 

If they hadn’t left heart for Voltron, his best friend, the one who got him through his darkest years, who cherished his most hurtful and joyful memories… He would’ve lost him.

He stepped back instinctively, not even realizing that, and went before _ Hunk _.

The man looked him up and down, quizzically, but before he could say anything, the teen’s strong yet thin arms envelopped him in a tight hug.

“I’m so sorry..,” he whispered, face buried in the man’s shoulder, tears streming down his face, “I’m so, so sorry… I don’t know what happened, but it was my fault, and I’m sorry!”.

The man’s hand hesitantly patted him on the shoulderblades, delicately, unsure of what do it.

“It- it wasn’t you, it was him-”

“Please, stop” _ Lance _interrupted, steppping forward.

“What are you..?” the teen asked, stepping away.

_ Lance _sighed, “You’re right, it’s not his fault, it’s mine. So I should do this,” he inhaled, “Hunk… I…Listen, what I said and did back then… I made it worse. I acted like the worst friend ever, and I’m so sorry for that,” his voice was shaking now, “I am not asking you to forgive me and go back to how it was like nothing happened… I just need to help him go back. To give our friendship another chance, somewhere else, but if you d-”.

The taller man shook his head, smiling, “Lance, I forgive you”.

“What..?”

“I forgive you, buddy. It’s been a long time, and… The past is in the past” the Samaon smiled, dragging _ Lance _into a hug.

Lance smiled, legs trembling for all the adrenaline.

Being put face to face with death was nothing compared to his fear of losing a friend.

-

After a brief moment of reconciliation and chitty chat, the team decided that it was finally the time to help Lance.

“What is your plan?” _ Adam _ asked, looking at _ Lance _firmly.

“If we manage to take one of the aircrafts in the main hangar, Lance could take that and fly through a wormhole like he did the first time” he answered.

“And if there’s no wormwhole?” _ Keith _nodded.

“Yeah, Pidge’s got a point”

“I’m getting there!,” _ Lance _exhaled, “if the wormhole is not naturally there, we could help him to open one!”

“How?”

“It's theoretically possible to connect a black hole, a region of space where nothing can escape, to a white hole, a theoretical region of space where nothing can enter. When these two join together, they form a wormhole. So you can jump into either end of this tunnel and instead of getting crushed into oblivion you just harmlessly waltz out the other side, but…”

“But?” _ Keith _asked, tilting his head.

“It's still unstable, and if something or someone actually tries to use it, it falls apart. To make this all work we need to make sure the two charged holes stay safely far away from each other, and make sure the tunnel of the wormhole can hold itself open. We need cosmic strings,” he paused.

“If you thread the wormhole with a cosmic string, and allow the string to pass along the outside edges of the black holes and stretch out of either end all the way to infinity, then the tension in the string prevents the charged black holes from being attracted to each other, holding the two ends of the wormhole far away from each other” _ Lance _said, much to everybody’s confusion.

“Essentially, the distant ends of the cosmic string act like two opposing tug-of-war teams, holding back the black holes. When cosmic strings are closed in a loop, they wiggle and these vibrations churn the very fabric of space-time around them, and when tuned just right the vibrations can cause the energy of space in their vicinity to go negative, effectively acting like negative mass within the wormhole, potentially stabilizing it. And it should last long enough for someone to go through that”.

_ Lance _finished, looking at the others, “So?”.

They looked at each other, skeptically.

“With our technology, we might be able to recreate a smaller version of it..,” _ Pidge _said, and Hunk nodded, “I still remember most of the things from my aerospace engeneering classes, I can help”.

“And I can get you the clearance to use the labs and hangars here,” _ Adam _said, “I’m just a pilot, I don’t have many scientific resources” he smiled apologetically.

“All the help we can get is useful,” _ Keith _said, placing a hand on the man’s shoulder.

“How long is this going to take..?” Lance murmured, “I- I mean, it’s not that I don’t appreciate the help, the contrary! I just...” he lowered his gaze, eyes shining with melancholia.

_ Lance _approached him quietly, “We get it, you want to go home,” he smiled softly, “we’re going to do our best… You said that your team is family to you, right?”

The Cuban teen nodded vigorously, “Mi familia...”.

All the adults in the room smiled, looking at each other, “Give us a week, at most,” _Lance_ said, “so that we can make sure that everything goes smoothly and you can see them again”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is set in 3031, as stated before. So, Keith and Lance started dating during the last year of academy, and I’ve decided that it was 3020 (right age to become a pilot, I guess). They got married five years later, that’d be in 3025. Hope this helps!  
-  
I know NOTHING about that wormhole stuff, but I did my researches (science-y stuff copied and pasted from livescience.com !). Also, keep in mind that this is set 1000 years in the future (I mean, I think the whole VLD show is too) so, yeah, close an eye if it seems too ridiculous xD


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am mortified for the delay, I intended to publish this on Monday, but health has not been on my side lately, and I keep getting migraines so bad that I can’t keep my eyes open. I’m so, so sorry :( also, if you find spelling errors, please warn me, I’m trying my best but everything is still fuzzy

It did not, in fact, take only a week.

Despite the hard work, the energy that everybody was putting in the mission, the sleepless nights and the successes, a week hadn’t been enough. Not even close.

Every step forward equaled two steps back, making the work wearying and stressing.

Mental health was a top priority, just like having a positive and optimistic attitude, but Lance couldn’t seem to cope with the stress well enough.

-

“Lance,” Keith told him on the sixth day, “you need to eat and sleep, buddy, you can’t keep this up”.

The boy shook his head, “I’m okay”. 

He couldn’t distract himself. He had to get back as soon as possible.

_ \- _

_ Lance _ and _ Pidge _had made some progress, managing to open a tiny, tiny portal. Lance had cried at that, but the inital happiness got soon replaced by despair and anger, as the hole the size of a fist had collapsed onto himself, exploding and setting the fire alarms off as well.

“Fuck,” _ Adam _screamed running into the hangar and covering his head from the water-mist firefighting system, “is everybody alright?”

“Yeah, just- it was an accident, sorry, I guess we calibrated it wrong” the older Cuban had noted, shielding the notepads and manuals with his body.

_ Hunk _quickly turned it off- he was the only one who really knew how to fiddle with electric systems without being electrocuted on the spot.

“The good thing is that we are a step closer to the final project,” _ Pidge _interveined, “we just need to re-adjust the cosmic string system for a more suitable measure, it shouldn’t take more than two days and-”

“What!?,” Lance screamed, getting up from his spot and wincing at the dizziness- stress and empty stomach were a fatal mix- “t-two days? Again!?”

“I... I’m sorry Lance, it’s-”  
“I’ll never see my team again, or my family, and- I’ll be stuck here forever and and they’ll think I’m dead and- oh Dios...” the paladin whimpered, hands in his hair.

_ Keith _quickly approached him as the others stood silently. 

“Shh, it’s okay, Lance, it’s okay-”

“It’s not! Quit saying that it’s okay when- fuck, you are not the stranded one, the poor pathetic boy stuck on the wrong side of a wormhole, you- you have no idea, I- my team will never find me, maybe they aren’t even looking right now,” Lance said as tears welled up, “how long have I been gone!? And- and what if time is different here? It’s been nine quintants- nine days, right? Maybe- maybe back in my dimension it’s being nine weeks, or months, or- or years! I could be a goner for all they know-” he screamed, voice now hoarse.

He lowered his head. Shame washed over him, _ am I seriously fucking crying in front of them!?, _but he didn’t do anything to hide it either. 

Lance sank to his knees, bowing down and curling up, forehead pressed agains the floor as he pressed his cold hands to his ears. 

The boy’s body was wrecked by sobs and yelps, helplesslingly escaping his trembling lips.

Lance didn’t hear the soft padding of footsteps approaching him, nor the sound of a knee touching the ground.

He yelped loudly as a hand ran through his soft and messy hair, but didn’t raise his eyes.

The next few instants were a blur.

Someone was talking quietly- to him? To another person? To themselves?- then gently grabbing him from his upperarms and dragging him somewhere. They walked for a while.

The first thing he registered was the frizzy air hitting him on the face, as he shivered hard for the sudden change. 

“Hey, raise your eyes, please” someone- _ Lance?- _ instructed gently.  
And Lance did. He was so used to listen to his own thoughts that when his own voice ordered him to do something, he just did, without a question.

Before him, there was the Garrison’s lading strip; a few aicrafts were there, but apparently nobody was in sight, at the moment.

“It’s lunch time, everybody’s at the canteen,” the astrophysicist reassured, “it’s just us”.

He then handed him a wrapped burrito, its smell delicious, “You haven’t been eating enough, your body won’t sustain the strain of a wormhole travel if you go on like this”

“If I’ll ever manage to make one...” Lance murmured, sitting in a curled up positiion as his chin rested on his knees.

“You will. We all promised you, didn’t we?,” the man replied, shoving the burrito closer to the paladin, “it’s abuelita’s recipe, you can’t refuse to eat it, I know it for sure,” he added, smirking, “also Keith will kill me if I don’t get you to eat, so please, just do it, I like living!”.

Lance sighed, a thin smile appearing on his face, “Alright,” he said, grabbing the burrito, “Dios, huele delicioso...”

“Lo sé, ¿verdad?”

“So..,” the teen noted, “you still speak Spanish well… You practice often?”.

_ Lance _smiled, “I visit my family once a month, so yeah, I do… But yours is good too, although I don’t think you’ve found someone to speak Spanish with in space...”

“Yeah, I didn’t really get the chance yet… I feel like my Spanish now has a heavy American accent to it”

“Nah, it’s barely noticeable, I swear,” the man smiled as he watched Lance quietly eat the food, “listen, huh, I’m sorry it’s taking so long to-”

“No,” the shook his head as he swallowed the bite, “I overreacted again. It’s… I’m so grateful for what you guys are doing, I feel like shit because I keep yelling at you. I’m really sorry”.

_ Lance _huffed, “Woah, I wasn’t that self conscious at your age, I can tell you that for sure… But seriously, it’s fine, don’t worry” he said, patting the boy’s shoulder.

“Can… Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, yeah”

“Do you guys know what you’re doing..?”.

The man’s eyes softened, “Lance-”

“It’s just, I don’t want to be lied to, okay?,” Lance swallowed hard, “if I’m never going back, then I need to know… I need to know, Lance, I really do. For closure, so that my soul can rest in peace”.

_ Lance _patted the teen on the shoulder gently, “You are definitely going back, and I’m not lying to you, none of us is,” he exhaled, “we’ve encountered complications, yes, it’s undeniable, but… But we are truly trying our best, hermano, and you will go back to your team, as soon as we finish” the man smiled.

“I… Thank you,” the paladin muttered, a tear escaping his ocean blue eyes, “thank you...”.

The two hugged, because being the same person, they both knew that they needed it.

“Everything will be okay, I promise, kid...”

-

“Pidge, quit it- aaagh! S-stop!”

“Sorry, I just really, really wanted to try that again,” they chuckled as another small jolt of electricity cursed through the boy’s body, “did that hurt that much?”

“Wh- YES, yes it did, Pidge! For the last time, my molecules aren’t going to shift, you have to find another way to get me through the quiznaking portal” Lance sighed, flopping back on the examination table.

It had been forty-six days, two hours and and nineteen minutes since Lance had arrived. And to him, it felt like an eternity.

But despite being restless, nervous and always on the spot, the episodes of panic and anxiety had consistently diminished through the last days.

He trusted his team back in his dimension, and he trusted this team too. 

Not like he had other options, anyway.

“Hello,” _ Hunk _smiled as he stepped into the lab, “are they electrocuting you again?”

“Yeah- Pidge, no, no please!” he screamed as they approached him with another threatening device.

“Chill, it’s not going to hurt”

“You said it the last time too, and the previous one, and-”

_ Hunk _cleared his throat out loud, “So, dinner?”

“Dinner?,” Pidge’s eyes widened, “what happened to lunch!?”

“You two have been locked up in here since 10am and didn’t even reply to my texts”

“Ow shit, sorry pal,” _ Pidge _replied and turned to Lance, “why didn’t you say you were hungry?”

“I was too busy being shocked with electricity by a certain psycho” he muttered, rolling his eyes.

“Anyway,” he continued, looking at the Samoan, “any progress?”.

The man smiled, “Actually, yeah… But first, food” he said heading toward the door and being followed by the others.

As they ate dessert, _ Hunk _ ’s famous panipopo, all together- except for Adam who had gone back home- _ Lance _cleared his throat,

“So, we may have found a way to stabilize the wormhole enough to allow you to pass through it b-”

“Really? How!?”

“But, as I was saying, there is a technical difficulty-”

“What!?”.

_ Pidge _grunted, rolling their hazel eyes, “McClain, I swear to God-”

“Sorry,” the teen muttered raising his hands, “please, go on”

“Right, so, again, the problem we are facing is that we can’t calibrate the exact exit point of the wormhole, meaning that it could literally drop you anywhere in your dimension, billions of light years away from your team” the older Cuban explained.

“But we may have found a decent solution,” _ Keith _intervened, “which is retrieving the Blue Lion of this dimension and giving it to you. That way, you should be able to contact the others through your comm-links or the bonds between the Lions”

“B-but… You’d be left without a Lion...”.

The adults all looked at each other with a sympathetic smile on their faces, as _ Hunk _exhaled soflty, “Being Paladins of Voltron is not our destiny, Lance, not here, not now,” he smiled, “maybe one day, someone will have to take the role of the Blue Paladin, but certainly it won’t be one of us, and since we’ve never even heard of the Galra, I doubt that the intergalactic war is a thing at all”

“The Holt’s-”

“My father and brother have been reported to be dead, you saw it last week… We witnessed the explosion of the spacecraft, even if it wasn’t live. It wasn’t aliens, it was just… Just a malfunction” _ Pidge _noted, a tad of sadness in their gaze.

Lance swallowed the lump in his throat, chest swelling up in an uncomfortable mix of anxiety and excitement, breath cut short, “But if- if I take your Blue Lion, my dimension would have two of them and-”

“Yours disappeared, didn’t it?,” _ Keith _prompted, “otherwise you would’ve crashed with it. The quintessence- it’s called that, right?- her quintessence protected you… So your dimension is one Lion short”

“Yeah, I guess...”

_ Lance _put his hand on the paladin’s trembling shoulder, “You’re finally going home”.

Lance didn’t mean to cry, again, but he couldn’t help it.

Tears of joy welled up at his deep eyes, a smile from ear to ear spreading across his caramel, delicate face, a hint of red on his cheeks and nose.

_ …Home... _

-

Keith was frantically yelling, alternating prayers and profanities, pleading desperatedly for someone to _ do something _as he cried loudly, Hunk a sobbing mess next to him, while Pidge held onto him, bawling their eyes out. Shiro was whimpering quietly, robotic hand pressed on his face, to hide the pain.

“No, no! Please, g-give him back to me,” the Red Paladin screamed, rocking back and forth as he held Lance’s still form tight, “God, please, give him back, please, I beg you, please-“

“Come on, come on, damn it, Lance, breathe- please- don’t- don’t do this to us, please, I’m imploring you, oh please- don’t stop now” Pidge yelled as they squeezed the cold, limp hand.

Lance was staring from a distance. He was staring from above.

He was dead.

Lance... 

Lance was dead.

He saw himself dying, he saw his lifeless body being cradled, shaken, tapped, hugged, slappled, stained in tears and snot and blood and sweat.

He was dead.

“I’m right here, guys, please, it’s going to be okay-”

His prayers fell on deaf ears.

“I beg you, you have to listen to me, estoi aquí-”.

But he was gone.

Lance was gone.

-

The young paladin jolted awake with a start, a strangled scream escaping his open mouth, gasping for air.

His tapered fingers dug and twisted his shirt tremblingly, clutching his chest, _ necesito respirar _ _ necesito respirar necesito respirar necesito respirar necesito respirar- _

Lance quickly bolted for the bathroom, not even completely awake and aware of his sorroundings yet, and violently retched into the bowl, as he spat a displeasing mixture of bile, undigested food, snot and tears into the porcelain.

A nightmare. It was just a nightmare.

_ Estoy vivo, está bien… Dios, estoy bien… _

He groaned loudly as he placed his sweaty forehead on the rim of the toilet, panting.

Lance gagged again at the smell, but didn’t have the emotional and physical strenght to raise his hand and flush the mess he’d made down the drain.

The only relief was that, at least, he hadn’t woken the McClain-Kogane’s up, _ again _.

The boy shivered, as a sob wrecked him from the inside.

He was so, so tired of this. He wanted to go home. He wanted to see Keith, and Pidge, Hunk, Allura, Coran, Shiro, the mice, Kaltenecker. He missed them all. So much.

He wanted to hug them again, tell them how much he loved them, how much he’d missed them.

But, despite this fact, he’d not once dreamt of going back.

Only ghastly nightmares had kept him company durning this misadventure.

Lance quickly glanced at the clock on his bedside table, digits so bright that he could see them from the bathroom too; it was 3:51am.

_ So this marks forty-six days, seven hours and and thrity-two minutes… Dios, I should really get some sleep. _

After a few minutes of personal reconciliation, the paladin finally flushed the toilet, pouring some disinfectant down the drain, and making sure that nothing had been expelled out of the designated spot.

He got up from the cold tiles, wavering and grabbing the bathroom counter for dear life.

As Lance rose his tired eyes, he ran a hand through his hair.

_ Wow, me veo como la mierda… _

He splashed an aboundant amount of freezing water on his face, shivering hard at the contact.

As he stumbled back to bed, flopping onto the matress uncerimoniously, he pulled the covers up, fetus position the most reassuing at the moment.

He was paralyzed by fear. In his nightamares too. Sometimes he tried to scream, to tell the that he was just right there. 

And they never noticed him.

They never acknowledged his presence.

He was dead.

And Lance couldn’t sleep at all.

He knept tossing the blankets and putting them back on, ruining the bed that the McClain-Kogane’s had arranged for him in their guest room.

Lance sighed, as his stomach sent another wave of nausea up his throat.

Nails dug into his soft flesh, as thin red lines formed, the chilly air making them sting a bit.

Lance needed to know it was real, he needed to know that _ he _was real, to ground himself.

He wanted to know that he hadn’t been abandoned, that he wasn’t stranded for eternity, and that he had someone to go back to.

With these thoughts, he fell asleep once again, not peacefully, not blissfully, but uncoscious at last.

-

The alarm rang, loudly and right in his ears, roughly three hours later, waking him up from a disturbed sleep.

Lance groaned quietly, pressing the palms of his hands into the eyesockets. His eyes burned, and every single cell of his body tried to drag him back to sleep, screaming in pain.

But he couldn’t be late.

_ Today’s the day. _

Someone knocked on the door soflty, “Lance, hey, are you awake?”

“Y-yes, Keith, sorry, I’ll be downstairs in ten” he replied, throat still hoarse from the vomiting strain.

As he heard _ Keith _humming and leaving, Lance bolted out of bed and into the shower. 

The cool water was a blessing, refreshing and relaxing, but also awakening him more than before. 

After he cleaned after himself, the teen quickly put on something fresh; despite having asked not to be bought new clothes, the couple hadn’t listened, and purchased some t-shirts, a couple of hoodies and trousers, a brand new coat, two PJs, underwear and socks too. 

They even bought Lance a pair of sneakers, absolutely baffling the boy as that model hadn’t come out yet in his dimension, being more than a decade back in the past.

Lance smiled slightly. At first, him- or, well, future him- and _ Keith _being married had freaked him out a bit, and staying under their roof had felt just too weird at the beginning. But he’d gotten used to it, and in all honesty, he loved being with those two.

They had been very kind since the beginning, feeding him delicious meals- _ Keith _ did, because _ Lance _couldn’t cook to save a life- and providing him with the right amount of support and comfort, both emotionally and physically speaking.

He felt warm inside, like he did back home.

_ Home… I’m going home… _

The young paladin rushed down the stairs for breakfast, as a cup of coffee and a French toast were waiting for him, smoking hot and smelling delicious.

“Hey buddy, ‘morning! Did you sleep well?” asked _ Lance, _drinking his own coffee.

The teen hummed smiling as he sat at the table, “I did, thanks. And you two?”

“You know, despite the retching sounds and all, we slept well” _ Keith _snickered from the other side of the table, basically drowning a croissant into the bowl of milk.

Lance lowered his eyes, “Shit, I’m so sorry, guys, I-”

“Hey, it’s fine,” the Japanese replied with a soft gaze, “you don’t have to lie to us, though. Just be honest, okay?”

“O-okay, yeah, sorry...”.

_ Lance _smiled, “So, moving on, are you ready for the big day?”

“Absolutely!”

“Excellent, ‘cause we have a lot of work to do. We’re leaving soon, so be sure to pick everything up: this might be the very last time you step in this house” the older Cuban finished, smiling.

“I… What about the clothes?”

“What do you mean-” asked _ Keith _confusedly, as his eyes widened, “ah, yes, you need a bag, right?”.

Lance was shocked, “I… I can keep them?”

“What the f- yes, you can… They are your clothes, buddy, not ours” the man replied.

The paladin lowered his eyes as his ears tinged in a pink-ish shade of red, “You two were the ones to pay for them, though...”

“So..?”

“They belong to you-”.

_ Keith _rolled his eyes as his husband chuckled lighlty. 

“No, Lance, they belong to you. I mean, Shiro paid for my education, but does my diploma belong to him? Hell no!” he laughed, ruffling the teen’s hair, “Now go get ready, we’re late”. Lance sighed, smiling slightly, and left.

Some minutes later, everything was packed, and the three were ready to leave.

Lance stood in the doorway as he turned to observe the place; he was really going to miss it here. He breathed the now-familiar scent in, one last time, and closed his eyes to focus solely on it.

_ I won’t forget it… The smell of home. _

_ \- _

In the Garrison’s hangar, everything was ready.

The mechanic installements stood majestically in the center of it, wires and cables of all size and length carpeting the floor.

It was about thirty meters tall, just enough to fit the Blue Lion in, and a lot wider.

Thankfully _ Adam _had managed to get them the largest hangar wtihout too much effort and bureaucracy complaints.

“All set,” _ Pidge _smiled behind the computer deck, furiously tapping and setting coordinates. “this area of the building is offlimits for the next hour, so I’ll need you all to be quick when retrieving the Lion”

“Yes, we will be as quick as possible” Lance nodded, thoughtfully.

“And be careful out there” _ Adam _added, looking at Lance and then at the McClain-Koganes’, who had been the one designed to accompany the paladin to the Blue Lion.

“Yes sir, will do” Lance said seriously, eyeing the portal.

_ Adam _sighed, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “For the hundredth time, you can call me just ‘Adam’, and second, don’t worry, the wormhole will work”

“Yeah,” _ Hunk _cut in with a wide smile, “don’t worry about a thing, dude, it’ll be okay!”

“I-” Lance blushed, “no, I wasn’t worried about that, it’s just… If this works, I’ll never see you guys again”.

The pilot’s eyes softened, “Hey, we will meet again in your dimension” the engineers said, smiling.

“Yes, we will...”

Silent fell in the room, tears in Lance’s eyes shining. 

“So… It’s a goodbye-”

“Aw, come here already!” yelled _ Hunk, _ followed by _ Pidge _ and _ Adam, _as the three envelopped the teen in a tight, warm hug.

“We’ll miss you, man, so so much!”

“I’ll miss you too, guys… Thank you for everything you’ve done” Lance muttered through tears, smiling widely but soflty.

The group hug ended, and the oldest pulled out a pendrive, fiddling with it in his big hands, “Hey, huh, Lance? Can I ask you a favour?”

“Of course, sir- I mean, Adam!”.

The man smiled, handing the boy the small device “Will you give this to Takashi, please? And tell him that… That I love him?”.

Lance nodded, his heart warm, “I will, I promise… And I’m sure he loves you too, a lot”.

Adam grinned gently, “Thank you, buddy… Thank you so much” he finished, hugging him again and letting go rather quickly.

“Hey,” _ Pidge _ said as they handed Lance a device like the one thanks to which he’d seen _ Lance _ and _ Keith _’s wedding photos, “this is for you”

“Wh- guys, you shouldn’t have..!” the paladin gasped, sincerily shocked, “I don’t know what to say”

“Don’t say anything then,” they laughed, “you can turn it on when you’re comfortably back home”.

_ Hunk _nodded, “Yeah, and don’t forget to think about us every now and then, and most importantly, say hello to your team!”.

Lance laughed out loud, “I will, don’t worry!”; he inhaled, drying the tears of joy, “thanks, I will never, ever forget about you… You’re my team- no matter the dimension I’m in- and I will always love you”.

After a couple of more hugs, Lance shoved the pendrive and the hologram device inside the backpack; the portal was turned on, glowing with a blinding liliac and cerulean light- _ just like how I rememeber it..!- _and the two Lances and Keith left in a hurry, to the Lion hideout, not too far from there.

-

“So it’s here...” _ Lance _muttered, staring at the cave where the Blue Lion was supposed to be, according to Lance’s memories.

“Yup,” the paladin replied, popping the ‘p’ excessively loud, “I mean, I hope so-”

“Everything is going to be okay, we’re all sure of it,” _ Keith _smiled, patting the boy’s shoulder, “now lead the way”.

They all walked in line, Lance in front of the others and _ Keith _close to him.

“It’s just like two deca-phoebs ago...” the boy muttered under his breath, amazed like the first time he’d stepped into the mystical place. 

They halted abruptly as Lance stopped, looking at some apparetly incomprehensible incisions on the cave’s wall.

“What’s the matter?” _ Keith _asked worriedly, peeking from behind the line.

At that, the adults were taken aback by the too familiar and equally dreaded McClain’s grin, “Watch and learn, and most importantly, hold on tight!”

“What-”.

Lance didn’t wait for the others to understand what was going on, because as soon as the brushed the old dust off, they were falling.

“LANCE, WHAT THE FUCK!” _ Keith _yelled, holding onto his husband who was just screaming his lungs out, high-pitched and panicked noises coming out of his throat like a fire alarm gone off.

He grinned, enjoying the ride as if he were on a rollercoaster, “JUST TRY TO FALL ON YOUR BUTT!”.

They landed instants later with a loud _ splotch, _the puddle under them barely softening the hit, and the screams died out, being replaced by grunts and pained moans.

“Dude, we’re way too old for this-” _ Keith _muttered, getting on all fours as he caressed his head, “so where is the L- oh”.

Before them, Blue stood in all her glory, still visible through the particle barrier..

The paladin smiled at the sight, joy overwhelming him, “Blue! Oh, te extrañé mucho, girl!”.

He was slightly saddened by the lack of purring, but didn’t give up, “It’s your boy, Lancey-Lance! Everything will be okay, baby..!”.

In the mean time, _ Lance _approached the Lion gingerly, amazement evident in every feature of his being, “Wow! It’s- mesmerizing! ! I can’t believe it has-”

“She!” Lance corrected

“Right, sorry; I can’t believe she’s been so close to us this whole time! And… What’s this shield?”

“It’s called a particle barrier, the Lions use it to protect themselves against unwanted guests”

“How do you de-activate it?” _ Keith _questioned, as they all joined the teen, gathering around him.

Lance tentatively looked at his older version with a malicious snarl, too curious to experiment, “What do you think?”.

The astrophysicist raised a hand to his chin, and approached the Lion, “I’m not sure, but..,” he muttered as he stretched a hand out, “maybe you just have to knock!”. And so he did.

The cave glowed bright blue, shaking madly as the shield went down. Blue roared in all her beauty and grandeur, and Lance’s heart melted at the sound, because he had missed it so much and didn’t even realize it. 

Both Cubans stared, absolutely baffled, too captivated and in love with the sight of their Lion, while the others shielded their eyes from the violent light.

The robot quickly crouched down, allowing them all to enter.

“Please, you go first!” the older Cuban said, receiving an amused chuckle as answer, “I really can’t; she opened up for you… It’s up to you to explain the situation to Blue,” he smiled, “you can do this, hermano”.

The man’s eyes widened, as he frantically shook his head, “No, no, w-what if I can’t convince her or-”

“Lance,”- it felt so weird to say his own name out loud like that, so soflty- “calm down. I trust you” the boy finished, smiling.

The three stepped inside the Lion led by _Lance, _who suddenly paled and leaned onto the wall, “Sh-shit, I feel so weird and sick...”

“You’re dizzy?” murmured _ Keith _as he quickly approached the other man, sustaining him from his arm, worried.

“Y-yes, a lot...”

“That’s normal,” Lance nodded, smiling sympathetically, “don’t worry about it, it’s understandable. You’re overwhelmed by Blue’s energy, because you’re connected to her, basically sharing one brain” he finished, as he took a moment to stare at the cockpit.

_ Dios _, how he missed that place.

_ Keith _quickly led his husband to the seat, easing him onto the comfortable spot, “Is the Lion talking to you?”.

_ Lance _swallowed as a wave of nausea washed over him violently, “I think, I- I don’t really understand… It’s like… Like she’s sending signals or… I don’t know, it’s so fuzzy” he groaned, grabbing his head.

“You gotta let her in, it’ll be okay,” the paladin hushed, crouching next to the pilot seat, “she chose you for a reason, Lance”

“Come on, babe, you got this” _ Keith _smiled, rubbing soothing circles on his man’s back.

_ Lance _swallowed loudly and nodded, feeling faint, but closed his eyes to focus on his task nonetheless.

_ They trust me. I have to do this… I know I can. _

A few instants went by, air still, not a sound nor a movement.

Then, the deck quickly lit up, holographic screens and icons popping up, the cockpit being lit in the familiar light blue color that Lance had missed, a sense of warmth embracing them all.

Blue’s eyes glowed yellow, as she got on all fours, roaring proudly.

“You did it!” Lance yelled enthusiastically, jumping like a child.

The Japanese kissed his husband on the cheek, muttering words of reassurance to in his ears as the drained Cuban leaned onto him, smiling, satisfied.

“L-Lance,” he croaked out, “I talked to her, and… She said yes, buddy, she wants you” he finished, patting the deck and grinning, “what a good girl, I’ll miss her a lot”.

He got up from the seat, wavering slightly but quickly regaining his footing, “You have to hurry, buddy, we don’t have much time”.

_ Keith _nodded along, “That’s right, the portal is safe to use but we don’t know how long it will stay open, and it’s been almost twenty minutes already!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll… I’ll go” the paladin replied.

Before he could get his rear onto the seat, a shiver wrecked him from his spine, and he turned around, as copious, fat tears fell from his eyes, “Guys, I’m… ¡Os quiero mucho, Keith, Lance!” he yelled, squeezing them in a hug and buring himself between them.

The two looked at each other soflty, and lowered their gaze.

“We love you too, buddy” _ Lance _said, “we’ll miss you so much!”

“Yes... It was awesome meeting you, man" _ Keith _muttered, kissing his nape with fatherly love.

They forcedly pulled away, Lance still a mess, as their own eyes shone in commotion.

“Go. Be great” _ Keith _murmured, stepping back.

It was a blur after that, the Lion roaring, the familiar stream of thoughs washing over him as he connected to Blue, _ Keith _ and _ Lance _looking at hims from outside Blue, the engines turning on, him arriving at the hangar, quickly glancing toward the ones who’d stayed in the hangar. 

Tears made everything fuzzier, and Lance gripped the controllers for dear life, screaming and crying loudly.

He pushed forward, heading through the portal.

And then, utter darkness enccompassed him and Blue.

-

Lance came to an unidentified amout of time later, looking around dizzily.

His whole body ached, and felt way heavier than normal, as he laid sprawled onto the cockpit’s floor.

The young paladin sheepishly looked outside Blue’s windshields, as stars and nebulas shone brightly, in contrast with the plain darkness on outer space.

_ We did it... _

He wasn’t aware of the static sound in his ears until it disappeared, replaced by frantic cries and yells, familiar, oh so familiar, calling out his name.

Lance pushed the tiredness aside, straightening up and heaidng toward his seat.

“Lance! Oh my God, Lance, baby... Lance!”.

Keith voice washed over the Blue Paladin like a warm hug, embracing his heart fully.

Lance snorted, tears pooling at the corner of his deep blue eyes. He exhaled in relief.

“Hi… I’m home”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funfact:  
I too drown buiscuits and croissants in milk. I'm sorry kiddos, I know it looks disgusting from the outside but it's just so good, and you can't just take that away from a hungry Italian teenager.  
-  
And that’s a wrap! This didn’t quite turn out as I wanted to, but to be honest, I didn’t know what I wanted in the first place. But what I know, is that I didn't want to write exactly what happens after Lance goes back, because it's something that, in my opinion, should be left to imagination.  
Also, this all comes from a dream I had a while ago (yes, I still dream about VLD), and being a dream implies that there rarely is a logic behind it.  
But I had fun writing “discrepancy”, and I’m proud of it nonetheless!  
I hope you enjoyed it too, and please, feel free to leave comments to let me know everything you want to say/ask, about this, about my other fics and all, both here and on my tumblr, (@theforgottendaydreamer), especially on tumblr as I reply super quickly to my inboxes.  
Thank you again, I hope I didn’t disappoint you with this finale.  
Bye, see you next time!  
****
> 
> ** _the epilogue has been added!_  
**  



	6. epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't think that someone would want to read an epilogue, but you asked for it and I delivered ❤ Also, I promised to myself that this would’ve been short, but I guess I got a little carried away there… Enjoy!

Lance all but collapsed onto the Lion’s seat after that small greeting, the voices of _ his _teammates echoing in the cockpit, turning into a soothing lullaby.

Blue settled gently on the ground where the other Lions had led her- piloting on her own as her paladin was unconscious and not certainly able to navigate on his own in that condition.

It took a couple of minutes longer than usual- Lance was a skilled “parker”, if one could say that for a giant robotic lion- but Blue had to do it on her own this time.

“Lance!” Keith yelled desperately, tears of joy and worry shining in his purple eyes, as he rushed out of Red and dashed toward Blue- “Please! Blue, let us in, please-” he pleaded, soon followed by the others.

The Lion obliged, purring softly as she lowered her head, opening the gate.

Keith rushed in, a scream caught in his throat as he witnessed Lance’s arm sprawled out on the armrest, the rest of his body hidden by the turned seat itself.

“Lance-” he whispered, hurrying at his side, hands hovering, uncertain.

Hunk fretted, panting, “Is- is he okay..?”

The Red Paladin stood there, eyes widened in shock, as Shiro quickly and gently pushed him aside, taking Lance’s wrist into his flesh hand, “...His pulse is strong and steady, he’s okay” he sighed in relief, looking over his shoulder to meet the others’ gazes.

Pidge was shaking with commotion, their hands firmly pressed on their quivering mouth as fat tears pricked at the corner of those hazel eyes, “He’s… Lance’s really back...”.

Hunk sobbed, rapidly pressing a button on his wrist-hologram, “P-Princess, Coran, please prepare a pod”

_ “Is the lad alright..?” _the ginger man asked, a hinge of panic in his accented voice.

“He’s… Lance seems okay, he’s unconscious thought”

_ “Right,” _ Allura cut in softly, _ “better safe than sorry… The pod will be ready within a few doboshes”. _

In the meantime, Shiro was attempting to shake Keith out of his panic, kindly massaging his arm as they both crouched on the floor, next to Lance’s seat, “Buddy, snap out of it” the man soothed, tone firm yet understanding.

“He’s-” the Red Paladin sobbed, eyes still shining with tears that, however, didn’t seem to be coming down any time soon.

Shiro nodded, eyes soft, “Lance is fine, but we gotta take him to the Castle, and we need you”

“R-right, sorry, it’s just-”

“Mh, could y’ guys… Maybe tone it down a lil..?” Lance whispered, not opening his eyes, but smirking.

“Lance!” Pidge yelled excitedly, grabbing the boy’s hend, “dude, oh my gosh...”.

Hunk loudly squealed, sitting in between Lance’s spread out legs and the dashboard in front of him, “Lance, oh man, how- Oh man, you’re okay!” the engineer sobbed, smiling.

Shiro sighed again, smirking, “Buddy, how are you feeling?”

“Tired..,” the Blue Paladin murmured, scrunching his upturned nose, “and confused… B-but happy” he finished with a soft grin.

“That’s understandable,” the man nodded, standing up, “we’ll be at the Castle soon, just try and stay awake, alright? Lance?”

The boy hummed, eyes unfocused and distant, trying to forcefully repress a yawn.

“Hey, stay awake, please,” Keith whispered, cupping his face, as Lance’s eyes shifted close, still, “shit, Lance…”

“Yeah, okay, he’s in no condition to be here alone,” Pidge ascertained, opening one of the boy’s eyelid just to witness that the pupil was rolled all the way back, “he’s okay over all, but we should monitor him, and we totally can’t leave him alone now”

“I’ll stay with Lance,” Keith said, stepping forward, “but we’re using Red, she’s faster”.

Hunk nodded, caressing Lance’s limp hand, “Good idea. Go, Keith, we’ll talk to Blue”

“Alright team, let’s get going” Shiro instructed, helping Lance up and passing him to his younger brother, who cradled the boy in his thin yet strong arms, “go, Keith”.

The paladin nodded and ran off, careful not to jostle Lance excessively, while the others stayed back to try and communicate with Blue.

As Keith took off, never prying his eyes from Lance’s still form- eased down onto the cockpit cot- he saw the other running out of Blue, her yellow eyes glowing brightly.

_ “Keith,” _ Shiro spoke on the comm-link, _ “we’ll be right behind you” _

_ “How’s Lance?” _

“He… He hasn’t moved yet. Coran, I’m scared,” the Japanese boy answered, swallowing dryly, “are you guys positive that he’s okay?”

Pidge cut in, “Lance’s armor is back online and it’s not detecting any problems beside- well- unconsciousness, so he’s fine, I think” they said, sounding sure enough to reassure Keith.

Keith reached the castle only a few doboshes before the others, he crouched near Lance’s cot in the cockpit; he had moved a bit during the short flight- he seemed more asleep than fainted per sé- mumbling occasionally.

“Hey, Loverboy, you hear me?”

“Loud ‘n clear...” the other answered, scrunching his eyes in a faint attempt to ground himself.

Keith smiled soflty, making him sit up gignergly, “Good, the pod’s awaiting for you. Can you walk?”

“There’s nothing I can’t do..,” Lance smirked whispering, clearly not entirely awake yet, as he swung his long legs to the side of the cot, “t-the room’s spinning though, so if you could…”

“O-oh! Yeah wait, let me,” the Red Paladin hurried, slipping one of Lance’s arm on his shoulder and hodling his opposite hip- a hot flare of arousal washing over him at the contact of those well-shaped bones. 

The walk to the medbay was relatively short, but painful and slow, not a word spoken for the majority of the trip.

Keith loudly sighed as they got to the right corridor, “Lance...”

“N-no, later, please… I can’t do this right now, Mullet” he pleaded softly, not panicked but not calm either.

“Lance-”

“LANCE!,” screamed Allura, running toward the two of them, followed by Coran, “oh thank the Ancient, you’re alive!”.

Coran smiled, drying a tear dramatically, “We were so worried, we thought you were-”

“I’m fine, guys,” the Blue Paladin repied smiling gently, “I missed you all”

“Can you tell us what happened?”

“Sorry, Princess, but I really think Lance should hop in a pod for a couple of vargas, he does look a little pale and unsteady” the advisor cut in.

Keith nodded, “I agree, let’s go Lance”

“H-hey, don’t I get to say anything in this?”

“Nope” the other paladin smirked, entering the medbay.

Lance stripped down of the armor- _ “really, Keith, stop staring, it’s creepy. I won’t keel over, I promise, just stop staring while I’m half naked!”- _ and put on the cryosuit, uncomfortable as always. Keith had not, in fact, stopped staring, but only stepped back a couple of meters, enough to give him some space, but not enough to have him falling and hitting the floor.

Allura gently led the Blue Paladin to the pod, as he swallowed loudly; Lance had never forgotten about the incident where he’d been trapped into one of those unwillingly, and after that he’d always been wary around them.

“It’ll be okay, Lance, you’ll be as good as new,” the Princess had reassured him, smiling, “and we’ll all be here when you get out, index promise” she finished, raising said finger.

The Cuban teen smiled, still amused by the fact that Alteans had completely different sayings, “Okay, index promise” he nodded, linking his finger with Allura’s, exchanging tired smiles.

The entered the pod- _ why are they vertical? That is so unpractical…- _as he heard muffled noises of steps approaching.

Hunk appeared first in his field of vision, running toward him, “Lance!”.

He smiled, “I’ll be okay… Check in my Lion’s-” and before he could explain more, the pod’s barrier lifted, and it was light out in a second. 

-

When he stumbled out of the pod, roughly two vargas later, Lance didn’t know where he was.

He felt himself falling rapidly, expecting to hit the floor face-first, but that moment never came as strong arms caught him in time, liftling him up and easing him back down on something soft.

“-ce? Lance, are you awake?”

_ ...Coran!? _

The boy cracked an eyelid open, blue eyes bulleting rapidly around the room in a faint attempt to understand the whereabouts, panic rising in his throat.

“Easy now, don’t fret, it’s okay,” Shiro whispered, stroking his hair back, “hey, do you understand us?”

“I- yes, I-” he sat up rapidly, almost hitting Pidge with his own head, panting, “you’re- I’m here!”

Keith smiled, standing at the bottom of the bed, “Yes, Lance, you are..,” he sniffled, uncharacteristically, “how are you?” he asked, voice cracking as he tried to regain his composure.

“I feel… Good, I guess,” he said, smiling from ear to ear, “What happened? I- I just had the strangest dream, you wouldn’t believe it… Did I hit my head again during training?”

The others exchanged worried looks, concerned and anxious.

Hunk spoke up first, clearing his throat loudly, “Lance, what’s the last thing you remember?”.

The Cuban lowered his eyes, focusing hard, “Mh, there was… It had something to do with a wormhole, it was unstable but-” he stopped, eyes widening in realization, “wait a fucking second! It worked!” he yelled, getting up and startling everybody.

“Coran-” Shiro muttered stepping back as the ginger man passed Allura a needle, “woah wait, I didn’t mean to sedate him, guys, what the quiznak!”

“You don’t understand, it worked!” Lance rambled, pulling his chocolate hair as tears of joy streamed down his face, rolling rapidly on his cheeks and down his pointy chin.

Keith approached him, backed up by Pidge and Hunk, “Lance, baby, please calm down-” he didn’t have time to finish his sentence as the Blue Paladin grabbed him from his upperarms firmly, and pressed their lips together.

“That’s… New..?” Pidge muttered under their breath, shrugging, as everybody else stayed there in utter shock, mouths gaping.

The Red Paladin stood there in desbelief- not that he didn’t appreciate it- as his eyes widened and stared at Lance’s form, their lips slowly pulling apart.

“Lance-”

“I have so much to tell you... To tell you all,” he smiled, breathing in, “God, how I missed you” he whispered, the now thinner smile quivering. The boy lowered his head to the other boy’s chest, forehead pressing against it, as he sobbed quietly.  
Allura grinned soflty, bringing a hand to her chest as she sighed happily, Coran doing the same.

“We have things to tell you too,” the leader said- kind of interrurpting the moment- as he approached the two, Keith still fairly confused by the whole ordreal, “do you want to eat first?”. 

Shiro was just worried: after all, the kid had been gone for some time, and who knows what happened in the meantime, if he had food to eat, a place to sleep, fresh air to breathe; Lance seemed alright, though.

“N-no, I’m okay,” Lance smiled, raising his head and drying his face, “let’s go somewhere comfortable, this recap is going to take a while...” he finished, sighing.

-

The team, mainly Shiro and Allura, explained what had happened, but Lance didn't honestly understand much of it. Apparently, the portal was a trap, set by the Garla to trick Voltron into entering it end, in their hopes, perishing in the attempt.

It was a newly designed wormhole- "_hah, they didn't have my team, that's why it was a shitty portal!" Lance had commented at one point, making the others sigh loudly- _with the clear goal of not having a way back. Lance still couldn't explain the voice in his head, and so Hunk had to explain how there was a Garla station nearby, small enough to be undetected by monitors, but big enough to send out signals. 

( "_Why me?"_

_"They targeted the first one in sight... Also, you're always out there yelling your name, they all know who you are, 'Lancey-Lance'!"_

_"Huh... Touché, Pidge, touché..." )_

They were all sitting on the common-area’s couches, anxious to hear what Lance had to say; they were all still worried, about brain trauma, hallucinations, brain-washing, and so on, but the boy had promised to have proof, so they obliged.

As Lance told his story, pacing frantically, moving his hands in the air, occasionally mimicking what he was narrating, the team gasped, eyes wide in shock and fear.

Lance told them about how he had found himself in _ Keith _ ’s house, how he had found out about the Alternate Reality, about _ Lance _ being a genius- he skipped the marriage part on purpose- and about the fight with _ Hunk _ , about the death of the _ Holts _ , his nightmares, about _ Adam _ , about how nobody knew of the Alteans- _ “I taught them the word ‘quiznak’, isn’t that hilarious?” _\- and about the projects for the wormholes. Only Coran, Allura, Pidge and Hunk seemed to remotely understan what he was talking about, while Shiro and Keith stared at him in utter confusion.

They had all tried to interrupt with questions, but in vain, as the teen kept on talking, his breathing short and erratic, only quitting to inhale deeply, his lungs squeezed painfully.

Still, he ‘allowed’ some breaks, as Shiro was crying violently at one point, much to everybody’s confusion, except for Keith, that- curiously enough to Lance- seemed to know. Pidge too was in tears, thanking the Ancient or whoever was up there for making their family come home safe, and Hunk couldn’t help but sob, a mess of tears and snot and yelps, at the thought of his best friend fighting with him.

“I thought I had lost you all, that I would have had to stay there for eternity, I- I was so scared, really, I couldn’t sleep nor eat during the first weeks, but- but then they told me that they had found a way and I did my best to help. Still, I was terrified, I cried so hard, I thought I had lost you forever..,” he sobbed, showing the first emotion he felt since the beginning of the speech (_“Lance, speak slowly. And please, calm down!” _Keith had told him at one point) “I also- I had prepared a...” he shrugged, breath shaky, “nevermind”.

“No no, hey buddy, it’s okay. What is it?” Hunk said, dark eyes soft and worried.

Lance swallowed, shaking his head, muttering a ‘later’ lost between sobs and tears.

He raised his head slowly, and inhaled, “You guys got the bag? The one I had left in Blue?”.

Allura’s cerulean eyes widened in understanding, “Ah, of course,” she said, grabbing the backpack that was behind the couch, “here you go, Lance”

“Thanks, Princess” he replied, smiling tenderly, as he fiddled with the contents of it.

“...Did Lance give you that? The- the other one, I mean” Pidge asked, fixing their glasses.

The Blue Paladin nodded, a thin grin of in face, “Yeah he did- oh, here it is!,” he exclaimed, extracting a small device from a pocket, “Shiro, this is for you… From Adam” he said, smiling at the man, still a wreck from before.

“Oh- oh my God..,” Shiro muttered, voice hoarse and watery, “I… Thank you so much, buddy” he said, standing up and dragging the boy into a tight and sincere hug, crying.

“Shh, it’s okay, Shiro,” Lance whispered, smiling soflty as he rubbed soothing circles on the man’s back, the height difference making it hard, “Adam, he… He wanted me to tell you that he loves you, no matter what happened between the two of you” he finished, earning more desperate sobs from the man.

Coran looked sympathetically at them, and gently dragged Shiro back to the couch, letting Lance breathe again. 

Hunk and Pidge stepped forward then, hugging their friend, muttering apologies that weren’t even necessary to him, whispering words of love and reassurance. The Cuban embraced them tightly too, burying his caramel face between them, whimpering softly.

Before Keith could step in too, Lance excused himself, clutching the bag for dear life and left in a hurry, running toward his room, looking around in amazement and wonder, redescovering those corridors like it was the first time, the familiar and nearly-forgotten scent of old tech and unknown aroma flooding in his nostrils as he breathed in deeply.

As Lance arrived in front of his, _ his _room, he halted: his gut twisted in a maelstorm of contrasting feelings, almost sending him to the floor again.

“Come on, McClain...” he inhaled once more, trying to calm himself, and stepped in, automatic doors closing behind him with a soft _ swoosh _.

-

The Black Paladin sat alone on his bed, where Allura had led him after his breakdown. He fiddled with the device- fairly similar to a normal pendrive- never prying his eyes from it.

Shiro smirked soflty, the childish thought that the tiny object smelled like Adam passing his mind.

“Alright,” he inhaled, “let’s do this...”.

The man inserted the pendrive in his computer- gentle concession of Pidge, who’d somehow 

managed to retrieve devices for them all- and put it at the edge of the bed, sitting cross-legged and hugging his pillow like a child scared at night.

The video started, screen slightly inclined and wavy.

_ “Okay- is- it this on? Oh, I hope it is… Hunk, is this on?” _

_ “Uh let me- yeah, it’s on!” _

_ “Great, thanks… So… Hi, Takashi” _Adam said, directly looking into the camera for the first time.

Shiro sobbed, smiling, “Oh, baby...”

_ “I don’t know where to start with this… Well, Lance told me, us, about what happened there, the Kerberos mission, how you went there and… Apparently, you huh got abducted by aliens..? God,” _ he broke out in laughter, _ “that sounds so weird. You see, here things went… Differently. I’m sure Lance told you,” _ he stopped, inhaling deeply as tears evidently shone in his eyes _ , “I’m… I’m sorry, love, I’m so sorry that things went like this in both dimensions. I don’t know if and why we fought- Lance didn’t know anything about it, or, about me, really. A-and I don’t know if I’m alive, nor what happened in general in our lives. But… Takashi, I want you to know that I loved you, I still do and I will, forever, like we promised the day we got married. My life with you has been woderful, full of joy and happiness, pleasure, fun, and pure love… We had our ups and downs, but that’s what makes life beautiful, right? ...I’m sure that the other Adam too feels like this, no matter what you two have gone through. And… I miss you every single day of my life, love. I’m truly looking forward to meeting you once again” _the man grinned gently, exhaling, his gray eyes looking like shiny pearls.

Shiro was a mess now, his body being wrecked by sobs and whimpers and desperation, “Adam, I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry, oh my God, I shoudln’t have-”

_ “From what Lance told me about you, you’ll probably be blaming yourself right now, so as the husband of the you from another dimension, but still an adorably stubborn Takashi Shirogane, it is my sacred duty to tell you that it’s not your fault,” _ he grinned, tilting his head a bit, _ “things sometimes go wrong, and there’s not always a reason behind that. Things just… Just happen, love, and we don’t always have the power to stop them from going bad..!” _he shrugged, as tears poured from his eyes.

“Baby...”

_ “Like someone wise once told me, owning who you are makes you a better person. So you have to go out there, baby… Go, be great, Takashi. I love you so much” _

With that last sentence, a smile on the tanner man’s face, the screen went black, and Shiro’s heart shattered.

Shiro shakily closed the video, hands trembling and lungs gasping for air, and squeezed the pillow once again. He was crying madly, fat tears rolling on along his square jaw, nose wrinkled, the scar on it looking uneven.

“Adam… I love you too”

_ \- _

Lance was resting on his bed, hands folded behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling, looking at the holograms contained in the device that _ Pidge _ and _ Hunk _had given him before they said their final goodbyes.

There pictures of them all together, working on the wormhole, eating at the same table, sleeping in the hangar. Sort of a family album, and it made Lance feel lighthearted, free, relaxed. 

He already missed them.

But… he was really back. He’d been gone for so long, and now… Now he was back again.

A faint knock pried him away from his thoughts. He didn’t answer, though.

Lance would’ve recognized that way of knocking, those light steps, that lingering feeling from miles: Keith. He wasn’t ready to face him again. Not after that kiss. Not after the marriage issue.

“It’s Keith,” the boy stated from behind the door, “listen, I just wanted to talk. I… I’m sorry I did what I did. I don’t really know that that is, honestly… But you’ve been avoiding me, and I know I’m rough and all, so I just figured that maybe it’s my fault… It probably is, and I’m sorry”.

Lance heard him sigh.

“You were gone for so long, Lance, more than a month, but I swear I didn’t stop looking for you for a single instant, I… I was so scared. Whenever the others forced me to go to rest, I just couldn’t... Listen, I know we’ve just flirted for a short time, and that for you it’s probably just- I don’t know- the heat of the moment or whatever, but to me, it’s very much real. I… I like you a lot, Lance, really. I’m sorry if it sounds awkward, I know I’m a weird guy, all gloomy or whatever, but… I just want you to know that I missed you very much, and that… I don’t why you’re avoiding me, I don’t know what happened there, and I don’t know if you still like me or even did in the first place, but… If you want to talk about anything, I’ll be there for you. Just..,” he leaned on the door, “please, don’t cut me out. I… Lance, I can’t lose you too...”

Lance’s heart ached, as it hammered in his chest rapidly.

Keith stood in front of the door now, sighing loudly, “I’ll… I won’t bother you anymore, sorry. Rest well”

As he turned around, ready- but not really- to head back to his room, he heard the faint sound of the door opening behind him.

“I’m sorry, don’t-” his wrist got grabbed by the tanner boy.

“No, wait, don’t go… I…”

“Y-yes?” the Japanese whispered, turning to face the boy, his heart fluttering at the sight of a very flustered and blushing Lance. 

“You are not weird” he sputtered, eyes widening in panic.

Keith raised an eyebrow, feeling mildy flattered and baffled at that, “Wh- thanks..?”

“No, shit, I mean… You are a nice guy, a-and it’s okay to be weird. Uhm, Keith, I’m- I’m not angry at you. I never was”

“Oh… Okay”

“Also, I… I liked you for real- I still do, I still like you… It’s just that, you know… Life has been strange and… I’m scared, Keith, so scared. I don’t know anything anymore, I… But I like you, Keith. I really, really do, so fricking much!” he said, scratching his neck and looking at his shoes.

“...Lance?”

“Yes?” the Cuban whispered, looking up to meet Keith’s penetrating and soft gaze.

Keith swallowed the lump in his throat, “Can I kiss you?”

“Oh... Please do”.

The two melted into a soft kiss, their bodies close, warmth embracing them. Lance gently raised his hands, placing them on the other boy’s hips, as Keith grabbed Lance’s head in return, caressing his hair.

The two young lovers stayed there for a while, their relationship now stronger, beginning anew.

** _fin._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t even had ideas for this epilogue in the first place, so I apologize if it’s not good enough or not how you expected it to be.  
Still, I want to thank deeply whoever liked and commented on this work with so much interest and dedication, I feel truly blessed to have such awesome people reading my stories. Please, if it’s not too much to ask, read my other stuff too, I need validation since I don’t get much in my life!!  
Thank you from the bottom of my heart, again. I love you all.  
Come and say hi (or something else..?) on my tumblr @theforgottendaydreamer .  
Don’t forget to check out my future works too, and send angsty prompts, I love them!  
Bye babies, until next time...

**Author's Note:**

> Please, let me know what you think of this with kudos and constuctive criticism in the comments :) thanks, see you soon (weekly updates granted).  
My tumblr's @theforgottendaydreamer, for any questions or prompts that you want me to write, ask me there!


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